


Searching for Friends

by joshuaorrizonte



Category: The Arcana (Visual Novel)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-08
Updated: 2019-11-20
Packaged: 2020-10-12 21:47:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 17
Words: 58,026
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20571425
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/joshuaorrizonte/pseuds/joshuaorrizonte
Summary: After the worlds are merged and the apprentice finds Julian, they decide to find their friends, starting with Asra. When Asra reveals that he's been trying to fight back against the Devil, though, and has no intention of stopping, their goal changes: They can't undo what's been done to the world, but they can overthrow the tyrant toying with the world now.





	1. Chapter 1

"So," Julian asked, "Who are we going to look for first?"

They had just started their journey; Thomas was grateful that Julian had chosen to come with him. He didn't intend to let him live the rest of his life as a monster, but he would respect Julian's wishes for now. It made sense; the world was dangerous now, and having a hulking creature would scare away a lot of what would harm them- even if Thomas didn't believe Julian would be able to bring himself to fight. 

But Thomas hadn't given much thought to who they would look for next. He did so now, thinking about it carefully. He wanted to say Portia, for Julian's peace of mind, but... "I think we should look for Asra," he said finally. "Asra would be able to help defend us, should we encounter something that we can't deal with alone, and he- he might be able to help us track everyone else, as well."

Julian nodded, his face blank. "That's- that's a good idea. I don't know what he's going to think when he sees me, though."

"We'll explain it to him. He'll understand."

Julian didn't look convinced, but said nothing as they started walking, Scout in the lead. 

As they traveled, Thomas told Julian about his journey to the Hanged Raven, of the things he'd seen. Julian listened in rapt attention, especially when he recounted the encounter with the leech. "A two-headed leech that told riddles?" he asked, eyes wide.

"A _giant_ two-headed leech that told riddles. And they weren't very good riddles, either. One of them magicked my bag full of blood and then implied that they'd suck mine if they ever came across me again."

Julian frowned. "I hope we don't come across them again. That sounds like it was terrifying."

"Well, one was polite." Thomas sighed. "That was when we started getting close to you. I think... I think that people alter the world around them. I've encountered a few people as I was looking for you, and the environment seemed to reflect their personality every time."

"That's- well- interesting." Julian seemed to consider this for a second. "And worrying. I can't imagine that everyone else hasn't fallen into the kind of despair I did. This is- this is a lot to deal with."

"I didn't fall into that kind of despair."

"You had Scout and a purpose in mind." Julian winced. "And what exactly are we going to do when we find everyone?"

Thomas looked forward grimly. "I haven't thought that far ahead yet. Let's decide that when we come to it."

Julian made an unhappy sound, but didn't respond other than that. 

Every once in a while, the conversation lulled, but they rarely walked in silence. There was so much to tell Julian. When the swamp finally gave way to another environment, Thomas had just finished telling him about the coliseum-looking area. It was like they had passed through a veil separating light and darkness; all around them, pinpoints of light illuminated their surroundings. Galaxies whirled above them in slow circles, and the ground beneath them was dotted with glowing flowers and plants. “This is beautiful,” Julian breathed. “I thought this kind of beauty was gone.”

“Aren’t you glad you came with me?” Thomas replied softly, a grin on his face. He stretched out his magic, searching their surroundings. His breath hitched in his throat as Asra’s familiar magic responded. “Asra’s here,” he announced, hesitantly. “But something’s- something’s wrong. He’s- he’s hostile. Doesn’t he recognize-“

Julian laid a clawed hand on Thomas’s shoulder. “It- it makes sense, if he’s been out here alone all this time. Remember what the Devil did to me? He sent so many illusions of you that I didn’t believe it was really you at first. If the Devil’s been tormenting all of us like that...” He gave a shudder. “But if you could get through to me, I know you can get through to Asra.”

“I hope you’re right,” Thomas murmured. Scout made a reassuring noise, and Thomas reached up to his shoulder to gently scratch Malak’s chin. “Malak? Can you find Asra? Hopefully Faust is still with him- you can tell Faust we’re here and she can tell Asra not to be afraid.”

Malak gave a caw and took flight, a dark blot against the endless stars. “Do you think we should follow him?” Julian asked.

“I’m- I’m not sure.” Thomas looked at Scout, who shook his head, growling softly. “Is Asra a danger to us?” Scout nodded, a solemn look on his face. “Can he be reasoned with?” Thomas asked, his heart sinking.

“Arowr!” Scout nodded, and Thomas looked ahead, guessing as to Scout’s meaning. Let Asra come to them on his own terms, and he’ll be much more likely to listen. At least, that was what Thomas hoped.

They waited for what seemed like hours. Thomas passed the time by preening Julian, relishing the closeness after being without him for so long. Scout sat a considerate distance away, looking over every once in a while to make sure that the two of them were still alright. Finally, Julian and Thomas laid on the ground side-by-side, staring up into the wheeling night sky above them.

Just as Thomas was about to suggest that they try sleeping for a bit, his hair stood on end, and the feel of Asra’s magic surrounded him. “What is that- do you feel that?” Julian gasped.

Thomas scrambled to his feet, Julian right beside him. "That's Asra," he said grimly as Scout bounded back to them. "Our plan didn't work. Be prepared to defend yourself, Julian, just- just don't hurt him. We just need to subdue him and he'll listen to us once he realizes we're not making a move to hurt him."

"God, I hope you're right," Julian breathed. "I can _feel_ him- he's _terrified_..."

"I feel it too." 

The three of them stood their ground, agitated, as Asra drew closer and closer. As his outline became clearer, Thomas gasped. Asra wasn't human anymore. Fox ears sprouted from the top of his head, and Thomas thought he could see a fluffy tail trailing behind him. He stalked forward, an ice spear in his hands, his expression dark. Malak floated beside him, not moving. Julian's expression darkened at the sight of it. "What did you do to Malak?"

"I didn't do anything to him," Asra called back. Thomas could hear the undercurrent of fear in it. "But I didn't believe a word he told my familiar, so start talking, monster."

Julian flinched. "Asra, it's us. It's- it's Julian and Thomas-"

"I just told you I don't believe you!" Asra snapped. He stood before them now, his magic echoing in the still night. "You're not fooling me again, Devil!"

Thomas thought fast. It seemed that the Devil tormented Asra much like he had tormented Julian. But he couldn't very well convince Asra of who he was the way he'd convinced Julian. "Asra," Thomas started hesitantly, "it's me. Did the Devil ever send an illusion of me with Julian- like _this?_"

Asra's eyes narrowed. "How did you know that's what he did?"

"Because he did the same thing to me," Julian said quietly. 

Asra seemed to consider what was being said. "No," he admitted, "but- if you're Ilya, then- then what happened to you?"

"I tried to fight back." Julian's voice was quiet. "I didn't believe it was Thomas, either, when he came to me. It's him. It's _us_. Please, you have to believe us-"

Scout voiced his agreement with a low bark, and Asra's gaze fixed on the little dog-figure. With a flick of his wrist, Malak was freed, and flapped his wings frantically, flying back to Julian and Thomas and alighting on Thomas's shoulder. "Fine," he said in a soft voice. "Convince me."

Thomas took a shuddering breath, and reached out with his magic, letting his aura expand and settle over their surroundings. Asra flinched away at first, but then his eyes went wide, and a slow smile spread on his lips. He laughed, closing his eyes, and the ice spear disintegrated in his hands. "It's you," he breathed. "It's really you... I thought- I thought you were-"

Asra crossed the distance between them in several long strides and swept Thomas up into a tight hug, and then turned to Julian. "Let me try to help you," he said, his voice eager and relieved. "I've figured out how to slow down the transformation, at least- maybe I can reverse _some_ of it- I-"

"No," Julian said with a slow shake of his head. "Thomas offered to break my deal with the Devil, but it's- it's the only thing keeping him safe from him. Besides," he added with a soft grin, "I was right. Looking like a monster kept people and other monsters away from us. This... form... is handy. And Thomas seems to be alright with it, so-"

"What about you?" Thomas asked. "Did- did you try to fight back, too?"

Asra nodded. "Several times," he said, looking away. "I was just resting, gathering my strength to try again. We can't undo what he's done to the world, but I'm not going to sit idle while he rules over us like a bored child who's too rough with his toys. I _have to _do something." He paused, looking back at them. "What about you? What are you doing?"

"We thought we'd just find everyone again," Julian answered. "We weren't planning on taking on the Devil- at least I don't think we were?" As Thomas shook his head, Julian added, "I really don't think fighting the Devil is a good idea. He'll get tired of it eventually, and then he'll just kill you. I don't want you to die."

Asra closed his eyes. "I don't want to live under the thumb of a tyrant," he said, opening his eyes. "We were going to take him on before _you_ decided to sell your soul to him, Ilya. And I know he can be beaten. The Arcana aren't invincible. But... but maybe you're right about finding everyone else first. Fighting him alone isn't working."

Julian's gaze was shuttered, and he pulled his wings in close to his body like a protective shroud. "I don't think we should fight him at all, but having your help finding our friends would be welcome."

Asra watched Julian for a handful of moments. At first, Thomas thought he was going to refuse without a promise that they'd go after the Devil. Thomas didn't want to live under the thumb of a tyrant, either, but after everything the Devil had done, he didn't have half of Asra's confidence that he could be beaten. But then Asra nodded. "Alright, then. On one condition- those who want to fight, once we're gathered, will be able to fight. Deal?"

"I wouldn't dream of stopping anyone from fighting," Julian said with a puff of breath. "It's not like I _can_\- I'm not anyone's keeper."

Thomas, hesitantly, asked, "Including me?"

"Thomas..." Julian turned to him, shock written on his features. Then he closed his eyes and looked away. "Including- including you. If you want to fight him, I won't try to stop you."

Thomas smiled ever so slightly. "I haven't made up my mind yet," he answered. "To be honest, I haven't considered it a possibility until now. But Asra's right. The world is ruined already, but that doesn't mean we have to be ruled over by the Devil. Maybe with the Devil gone, we'll be able to rebuild _something_."

Asra smiled, although it didn't reach his eyes. "Any help would be welcome, but I understand if you don't want to. This is... daunting."

They were silent for a few moments, before Thomas asked, "So what now?"

"How long have you been traveling without rest?"

Thomas shook his head. "You know as well as I do that time is meaningless anymore."

"Fine," he huffed. "Are you tired, then?"

"Very." Thomas shot a glance at Julian, who nodded. 

Asra gestured for them to follow him. "Come with me. You can eat and rest before we start looking for everyone else. The first thing I did when the worlds merged was to find the Magician, and they've helped me stay safe this whole time."

As they started walking, Thomas asked, curiously, "What do they have to say about you fighting the Devil?"

"Not much. They're- well- they're not _happy_ about what happened, but they've accepted it as reality now, but they know I have to do what I have to do. They'll be pleased to see you, I think."

The walk didn't take as long as Thomas thought it would. In what felt like minutes, they were at a ripple between trees. Asra pushed aside the ripple and stepped aside, letting Julian, Thomas, and Scout pass. As Asra entered behind them, the Magician looked up from the table they sat at, cards spread in front of him. "Ah. So you convinced Asra you are you."

Asra remained quiet as Julian said, "Wait, you already knew we were who we said we were? Why didn't you tell _him_ that?!"

"They did," Asra said wryly, "but the Devil's illusions have tricked them before as well."

"I'm sorry to say that Asra is right," the Magician said, gathering up their cards. "But you're real, and you're here now. Asra wants to overthrow trump he Devil. Tell me, does he have allies in you?"

Thomas and Julian looked at each other. "We're still debating that," Thomas said slowly. "Right now, I just want to find our friends. Asra's agreed that that needs to happen before anything else does."

The Magician gave a soft smile. "I tried to tell him before to seek you out. The task was too daunting. What's changed, Asra?"

Asra gestured at them. "They're here. They found each other-"

"Ah," Julian interrupted, "actually, he found me."

Asra shook his head. "Same difference, at this point- and you're bound to the Devil. He shouldn't have been able to find you. The fact that he was... maybe finding everyone isn't as daunting as I made it out to be. And I- I don't want to be alone anymore." Asra's arms wrapped around himself, bowing his head.

The Magician watched Asra shrewdly for a moment as Thomas wondered at that. But Asra _wasn't_ alone- he was with the Magician. Turning to them, Thomas asked, "What about you? I imagine you would be a valuable ally against the Devil. Why was Asra fighting alone all this time?"

"The only reason he was fighting at all was because he's his own person who can make decisions for himself," the Magician replied. "You're the one who has to do it, Thomas. I tried to tell him, to spare him the pain of fighting alone, but he wouldn't listen."

Asra gave a sickly smile. "As far as I knew, Thomas was dead," he replied. "If I'd learned anything from him, it's that we can't just sit back and expect things to happen. That's... that's how I lost him." 

"Asra..." Thomas murmured.

"Don't. It's alright. You were happy together and that's all that matters." He took a deep breath. "But I needed to _do something_."

Julian answered, "Well, finding our friends is something, and Thomas isn't dead. Maybe- maybe you're right." He looked away. "Still... I was fighting him too, for a while."

Asra's smile smoothed out to genuine affection. "I guessed when I figured out that you were real." With a self-deprecatory smirk, he tugged on one of the fluffy fox ears that protruded from his head. “But right now, you need to sleep. It’s safe here, if anywhere is safe anymore.”

Thomas sighed as Asra’s words sank in. They were safe here. They hadn’t been safe since the worlds merged, but they were safe now. Thomas sank against Julian, who brought a clawed hand up to the back of his head and rested very lightly there. Asra watched this thoughtfully for a few seconds, then said, “Follow me. You can use one of the back rooms to rest.”

Julian and Thomas obeyed,, noting in interested that Scout remained in the main room with the Magician. The little area divided into two separate rooms; Asra led them into the one on the right, flicking his wrist. Bright light burst into the plain, unfurnished room. Asra frowned, but it was quickly replaced by a mischievous grin. “One bed or two?” he prompted.

Julian’s face flushed, and he began to stutter horribly. Thomas set him with an amused look and answered, “One is fine, but it has to be big enough to account for Julian’s wings.”

“Of course.” Smiling indulgently, Asra waved his hand again, and a large bed shimmered into existence against the far wall. Then the light dimmed, and he turned away. “You should be able to turn out the light yourself when you’re ready to sleep, right? I’ll be in the next room over. Shout if you need anything.” His gaze softened, and he added, “I can’t tell you how glad I am that you two are here. I actually have hope for the first time since all this happened.”

Although it killed him to do it, Thomas said hesitantly, “Don’t hope too hard yet. If the two of us try to take the Devil on, we will lose. Badly. We need to find the others first.”

Asra nodded, his face and voice betraying none of his thoughts. “Who are we going after next?”

Julian answered immediately. “Pasha. I... I need to know that she’s alright. I would have suggested finding her before you, but I knew you could help us find her.”

Asra nodded again. “I will,” he said quietly. “We will find them all, Ilya. They’re alright. They have to be.” He hesitated a moment more, and said, “Rest well, you two. Remember, I’m just on the other side of the wall if you need anything.”

With that, he left them alone. Julian went to the bed and sank down on its edge, looking desolate. “Asra acted like this is my fault,” he murmured, looking at his hands.

“What? No! Of course he didn’t!” Thomas sat down next to him, carefully taking his hands. “What in the world makes you say that?”

“The way he said that I sold my soul to the Devil. He’s- he’s right. My only thought at that moment was that you were in mortal danger, and I- I could stop it. Nothing else mattered. You thought we’d be able to fight back. I should have trusted you...”

Thomas leaned up, putting a hand to Julian’s cheek and kissing him softly. “I don’t blame you for what happened,” he said softly, “and I know Asra doesn’t, either. The only one responsible for this is the Devil himself. Maybe you should have trusted me, trusted _us- _but we shouldn’t have been put in that position at all. You did what you thought was right with the information you had. You were wrong, but you couldn’t have known that at the time. It wasn’t your fault, Julian.” When Julian made no move, said nothing, Thomas asked, “Do you want to call Asra back so he can tell you this?”

“No,” Julian said immediately. “I- I believe you. You know him well. If you think he doesn’t blame me, then I believe you.” He sighed. “But that doesn’t change the fact that I blame me.”

“Julian...” Thomas’s sighed and kissed him again. “Let’s try to get some rest. We’ve been searching for him for a long time. We deserve the rest.”

“That, I can agree with.” Carefully, very carefully to avoid Julian’s talons, the two laid down in the bed, Thomas in Julian’s arms. “I love you,” Julian murmured, as he sank into sleep.

“I love you too.”


	2. Chapter 2

Thomas awoke to an empty bed and a comforting smell drifting into the room. A twist of longing roused him when he identified the smell: pumpkin bread. 

He rose and headed out into the main area of the little house, to find Asra, Julian, the Magician, and Scout sitting around the table, a loaf of pumpkin bread on the center of the table, already sliced up. “Look who’s finally awake!” Asra said brightly. “Come join us. The bread is still fresh.”

Thomas came to sit beside Julian, grabbing a piece of the bread and taking a bite out of it. “Asra and I talked,” Julian said as he chewed. “I feel better now.”

“We both do,” Asra said with a slight smile. “I spent some time searching for Portia while you slept, too. I have only a vague action plan, but it’s an action plan nonetheless.”

“We didn’t discuss that,” Julian said, looking at him with interest in his gray eyes. “What’s this plan?”

“I still have access to my gate. I know it can lead to other realms- and if I’m right, we can use it as a sort of base. Thomas and I can try to locate our friends, and we can use my gate to go to them.”

Thomas had taken another bite of his bread; he hastily chewed and swallowed. “Isn’t there just one big realm now?”

“Yes, but there are still boundaries. It will be much easier to cross them now- but they’re there. And if we can’t use my gate as I’m planning- we’ll just have to do things the hard way.”

“It’s as good a plan as any we’ve come up with so far,” the Magician said. “And Portia was relatively easy to find; it would appear that she took refuge in the Star’s realm. Asra can reach it easily.”

By then, Thomas had finished his bread. “Alright,” he said, “then let’s get started. The faster we find everyone, the better.”

Asra nodded. “Did you eat enough?”

"Yes-"

"No you didn't. At least one more piece of bread."

Thomas sighed. "I'm not hungry."

Asra stared at him in open concern for a number of minutes. Then, he said, "I can't make you eat, but we don't know what kind of obstacles are out there. You're going to need your strength."

Thomas hesitated. Asra was right, but he really _wasn't_ hungry. He had too much on his mind to eat. But he gave in as Julian said, "Please have at least one more piece of bread, Thomas. Asra- Asra's right. I'm not very hungry, either, but- but you got lucky with that two-headed leech. You got lucky that it wasn't hostile to you. We don't know if we're going to continue to be lucky like that."

"Fine, fine." Thomas picked up another piece of bread and munched on it. "So what did you talk about?"

"Julian's bad habit of sacrificing himself regardless of the consequences," Asra replied dryly.

"Er... yes. I... I won't be doing that again. No more deals with the Devil." Julian's face flushed, and he stared at his hands. Thomas put a hand on his shoulder and rubbed gently, the ensuing silence stretching out painfully. So Asra _did_ blame Julian for this, but at least they seemed to have come to an understanding. He didn't think he'd be able to tolerate it if they were at odds. Not right now, with so much riding on them being able to get along long enough to find everyone.

But Julian wasn't done talking. "And, uh, Asra talked me into it. I'll help fight. I'll help fight him. He's right; you're right. We can't let him continue to terrorize the world like this."

Thomas put a hand over Julian's. "Are you sure?"

"Not in the least." He gave him a wavering, hesitant smile. "But... but if this is what we need to do, then we need to do it. No more running. That's- that's a promise."

Asra was smiling softly through the exchange. He said nothing about it, though, as he casually reached for another piece of pumpkin bread and flicked his gaze to Scout. "Will you be joining us, Scout?"

"Aruff!"

Scout returned his gaze earnestly, panting. Asra stared back, as if trying to decipher the noise, and Thomas grinned. "I think he means that he's coming with us." At Scout's answering bark, Thomas was sure of it. "I don't think he wants to see the Devil have his way with the world like this anymore than we do."

"None of the Arcana do, either," the Magician interjected. "We will help as we can, but Thomas, you're uniquely special. You are both human and Arcana."

Asra sat up straight as Thomas and Julian gasped. "What with the what now?" Asra all but squeaked.

The Magician gave him a wry smile. "Didn't you ever wonder where Thomas's body came from, Asra?"

"Not particularly, no. I just wanted to bring him back. I didn't care _where_ the body came from."

"I see. The body is the Fool's body." Thomas almost choked on his bread, and every set of eyes in the room fixed on him. "As I said, he his both human and Arcana. There is a reason he's so powerful, and able to channel his connections with his loved ones into power. That's why I tried to discourage you from fighting alone, Asra- you simply don't have the power required to overcome an Arcana. Now that Thomas is here, though..."

"Now that he's here, we can win," Asra murmured. And then he shook his head. "Now we're definitely going to find everyone else."

"I- I agree, but-" Thomas looked down at his hands, shocked by the revelation. He didn't know what to think. "Who am I? Am I- am I the Fool?"

"You are Thomas." The Magician's voice was soft and gentle. "None of this changes who you are- who you've been your whole life. You're just magnitudes more powerful now than before your death."

Thomas thought about it for a moment, then took a deep breath and nodded. "Alright. I'm... I'm alright. My identity crisis isn't important, anyway. Are we ready to go?"

Asra stuffed the rest of his bread in his mouth as he nodded, standing. "Let's go."

Together, they ventured out of the little house and out into the starscape. It hadn't changed at all since they'd been in there, resting. Asra took Thomas's hand and reached for Julian's, but Julian drew away. "I'll scratch you," he protested.

Asra shook his head. "I've seen you hold Thomas, Ilya. You're not going to scratch me. You need to take my hand." Hesitantly, Julian reached for Asra's hand, careful to keep his talons away from Asra's skin. Asra gave him a reassuring smile, and Thomas and Julian both took one of Scout's hands, completing the circle. "Close your eyes; let my magic guide you."

Thomas obeyed, breathing deeply, focusing on the pull of Asra's magic. In seconds, he felt like he was falling, and opened his eyes as the realms rushed past him. To his left, Julian gave a surprised, elated laugh. 

They tumbled gently to the ground in an oasis of shifting color. Colorful pools of water dotted the landscape, surrounded by plants that seemed to expand and shrink at the same time. "This is beautiful," Thomas breathed. 

"This is my gate," Asra answered, getting to his feet. "We're just as safe here as we are with the Magician, although I can't guarantee safety anywhere else. Let's go. I've never been to the Star's realm, but it shouldn't be too hard to get to. Not like the Hanged Man's."

Together, the group started walking. Thomas looked around in wonder as tiny glowing moths shimmered around them. One landed on Julian's nose, and Thomas laughed as Julian's eyes went cross to look at it. "They like you!"

"I can't imagine why," Julian replied, although he was grinning, and his tone was light. He gently swiped a finger under it to encourage it to fly away. It did so as he asked, "You said you searched for Pasha while we slept. Is she alright? Is she safe?"

"I only found her presence. She's alive, at the very least, but I don't know what condition she's in," Asra answered. "For all I know, she's like we are now."

"I hope not," Julian muttered. "That would mean that she's been fighting- and losing..."

"I'm not sure that's what's doing it," Asra said with a shake of his head. "You and I both have deals with the Devil-"

"Wait, what?" Thomas interrupted. "What was your deal?"

Asra turned to him, startled, and then winced. "I hadn't meant to reveal that much," he said quietly, "but I- when I brought you back, I gave up half of my heart to do so."

There was quiet then, as Julian and Thomas processed that. "That's-" Julian started, dread in his voice.

Asra cut him off with a shake of his head. "It's done now. I can't take it back- nor do I _want_ to. Getting Thomas back was worth it all. But you see my point. The Devil is master here, now; his power is enormous. We could very well be becoming demons because of our deals, not because of fighting the Devil."

"D-demons?" Julian asked, eyes wide.

"People who are bound to the Devil's power. Normally, it takes several deals to begin to have that effect. Things aren't normal anymore and they'll never be normal again." He took a deep breath. "And we still have to find Portia. If she's been fighting, and she's like us, then we'll know what we're facing by going after the Devil now."

"Fair enough. How do we get there?"

"Follow me."

Asra led them through the oasis, a sense of peace settling over all of them. They were safe here- safer than even with the Magician. Nothing could touch them here. Asra's pace was leisurely, and Julian and Thomas pointed out different plants and creatures to each other, excited to explore. Asra glanced back at them a few times, a ghost of a smile on his face.

They stopped as they came to a pool of water. On first glance, Thomas couldn't tell the difference between this one and all the others they'd passed, but as Asra spoke, he saw it: it reflected a night sky that wasn't the one above. "I believe this is it," Asra announced. "Remember, keep your guards up; I was completely ready to fight you, and Portia is... hot-headed. We might not be able to stop her from attacking us before we can explain ourselves."

"She should be easy to deal with, if she does," Julian said. "She doesn't have any magic or fighting experience- except a handful of bar fights. But, uh- I hate to ask you this, but if she comes at us, can- can you two handle her? I don't want to risk scratching her." Julian lifted a hand and wiggled his taloned fingers. 

Asra glanced at Thomas and nodded. "She won't have a chance to get close enough to throw a punch. We can stop her before she gets to us. Are we ready?"

Thomas and Julian nodded, and Asra turned back to the pool of water and stepped into it, his companions following behind him. The water rushed up over their heads, and then they were in darkness, by a dock. Thomas gasped as his head broke the water, and he looked around frantically. Asra was already pulling himself up the ladder to the dock, but Julian was nowhere to be seen. "Julian!?"

Asra got on the dock and turned to face the water again. "Ilya!" he called. A moment later, Thomas felt Asra's magic stretch out over the water, and then he pointed. "There. He's having trouble swimming. Can you-" Without any hesitation, Thomas dove back under the water, searching. He saw Julian foundering a distance away, and swam over to him. Wrapping his arms around Julian's waist, he kicked up, dragging Julian up with him. They broke the water with a gasp, Julian sputtering and coughing. He struggled to tread water; before Thomas could protest, Asra called, "Just relax and let him carry you, Ilya! You're alright, he's got you! You're safe now!"

Thomas could tell that it took a supreme effort on Julian's part, but he relaxed, sagging against him, as he swam them both to the dock. They maneuvered so that Julian could grab the ladder; then, when he had pulled himself up onto the dock and splayed over it, chest heaving, Thomas climbed up as well. "Thank you, darling," Julian breathed. "I was drowning. I couldn't- I couldn't swim with these damned wings..."

"It's okay," Thomas replied, smoothing the feathers on the top of his head back. "You're safe now. But- is this going to be a problem?" He looked up at Asra. "If Julian can't swim, how are we going to use your gate as a base?"

Asra winced. "I'll think of something. The important thing right now is that we're here- and so is Portia, and Mazelinka, too. I can sense that they're aware of us. I think the Star might've told them not to be afraid."

At that, Thomas looked around. The dock led up to a shore, and a lighthouse. A bright, twinkling light poured from the top; he got the same sense of peace and safety he'd felt in the Magician's realm. "Well, we're not going to get anything accomplished sitting down here," he said. "Are you okay, Julian? Can you move?"

Julian nodded, getting to his feet with Thomas's help. He looked forlorn as he glanced back at the water. "I used to be such a good swimmer, too," he muttered.

Asra shot him a charming grin. "All the more reason to let Thomas break your deal with the Devil."

"You first."

"That will kill him."

"And for all we know, breaking mine will kill him, too," Julian retorted. "I'll consider it after we've taken care of the Devil. Let's stop wasting time and go. I want to see Pasha."

Asra shrugged and gestured for Julian to take the lead. He gave him a strange look before starting to walk, Thomas following and Asra trailing along behind. They went to the lighthouse and ascended the stairs; Julian took the steps by twos, leaving Thomas and Asra scrambling to keep up. When they reached the top, there was a commotion, and Portia's voice crying, "What the heck?!"

"Pasha, it's me- don't be af-"

"Ilya?!"

Asra and Thomas exchanged alarmed looks and dashed up the remaining stairs. Portia and Mazelinka stood on one side of the chamber, Julian by the stairs, hands held out in supplecation. "It's me," Julian repeated in a soothing voice. "I can explain this, but you have to trust me. Please. _Please_."

Portia's gaze darted from Julian's face to Thomas and Asra. "Asra?" she whispered, eyes wide. "What's- what's happening to you two? What's going on?"

"We've been trying to fight the Devil," Asra answered calmly. "This is the result. We're still us, Portia."

Portia's gaze settled on Thomas. "Why are you guys like that but he's not?"

Patiently, Asra explained to her how he and Julian had been fighting the Devil, and losing, but Thomas had not. Portia listened with rapt attention; when Asra's explanation was finished, Portia set Julian with a look, and put her hands on her hips. "Yeah, it figures you'd get yourself transformed into a giant birdman by trying to fight the devil alone." 

"Pasha..."

"Shut up." Portia crossed the distance between them in a few strides, wrapping her arms around his torso and hugging him tightly. "Do you know how worried Mazelinka and I were about you? And poor Thomas was beside himself!"

"I- I know." Very carefully, Julian brought a clawed hand to the back of Portia's head and stroked her hair. 

Mazelinka approached, her face unreadable. "Have you learned your lesson?" she demanded, gesturing around. "See what taking on the world's problems did?"

"Mazelinka," Thomas said quietly, "this wasn't his fault. This was the Devil's doing, and his alone."

"We'll agree to disagree." Mazelinka's sharp gaze refocused on Julian. "Well?"

"I- I have," Julian replied, averting his gaze. "I've already had this talk with Asra. I understand. This isn't what I wanted. I thought- I thought you'd all be able to go after the Devil without me, if I just bought Thomas more time..."

Mazelinka gazed at him for a moment longer, then moved to join the hug. "Hmph. Well, what's the plan? Are we going to keep fighting?"

"We are," Asra answered. "We discovered something very interesting about Thomas before we came here. I'll explain while we're seeking Nadia and Nazali, but suffice it to say, with Thomas here, we actually have hope of defeating him."

"Good. I'd like to give him what-for for destroying the world like he did. And for what? Because he was bored. Of all the dumb reasons to destroy a perfectly good world..."

Julian and Portia smiled as Mazelinka muttered. Asra kept watching them for a moment before clearing his throat. "Is the Star here? This is her realm- did she reveal herself to you?"

Portia nodded, pulling away. "She mostly leaves us be, but she did tell us you were here before going away again. She said she wanted to check something."

"I guess the best thing for us to do is wait, then." Asra smiled. "Tell us how you've been passing the time. It's been quite a while since we saw each other."

Together, they all sat down on the floor, sharing exploits. Portia and Mazelinka had mainly spent their time exploring their surroundings, guided every once in a while by the Star. "Did she say anything about fighting back?" Asra asked.

"Wow, you've got a one-track mind," Portia giggled. "To be honest, I- I wanted to. She advised us not to. She told us that you were still out there somewhere, and that Thomas was still the key to defeating the Devil. That we just had to be patient and he'd find us."

"We had just about given up hope of that happening," Mazelinka added, "but we were alright with it. The Star provided everything we needed and we had a peaceful life. Now that you're here now, though, we're ready to give that goat what's coming to him."

Julian looked away. "Are we, uh, are we absolutely sure that-"

"Yes, Ilya," Asra cut him off, although his tone was gentle. "We discussed this, remember? We have to do this. We have to at least try."

At that, Julian looked up. "I know you want to," Julian said haltingly, "and- and I get why. I really do. But we're all _safe_ here- like we were where you were. Why can't we just... just live our lives? Why do we _need_ to do this?"

No one spoke for several long minutes. Finally, Mazelinka said, "No one's gonna force you to fight, boy. You're right, it _is_ safe here. We could almost forget what happened to the world. We could almost forget who did it. But _I_ can't forget, Ilya. I can't forget that goat bitch ruined our world. I can't forget that he tormented you and turned you into this _thing_. I'm not going to stand for it, you understand? With Thomas here, we can do something about it, and I'm going to." She looked around at the others; all of them murmured their agreement. "You can stay behind," she added, "and I'm sure none of us will think less of you. After what you've been through, you've got that right. But we need to do this, to stop anyone else from going through what you have."

Julian said nothing, just looking down at his hands. Thomas said his name, brushing a feather back from his face. "I want to fight," he managed quietly. "I want to, but-"

Whatever he was going to say was cut off as, on the other side of the lighthouse light, the air shimmered and a human-sized cat faded into existence. She opened her eyes, taking in the scene before her. "Welcome!" she said brightly. "Are you all a sight for sore eyes! I'm the Star. I've been watching over Mazelinka and Portia since- well, since the Devil merged the worlds. Are you planning on trying to overthrow him?"

"We are," Thomas answered, with a quick, meaningful glance at Julian. "The Magician refused to help us, but will-"

"It's not so much that they don't want to, probably, as it is that they _can't,_" the Star cut him off. "It's taking all of our power to keep things stable in our own realms." 

"Why couldn't they have _said_ that?" Thomas threw up his hands.

Asra watched with a grin. "You know better than that, Thomas. Why they weren't going to fight was irrelevant at the point you brought it up. But it makes sense, with what Thomas has described of the world so far."

"Oh? He's been out in it?"

Thomas nodded. "For as long as it took me to find Julian. Scout, Malak and I wandered for weeks, looking for him. The world is a mess."

As Asra and Julian murmured their agreement, the Star shook her head. "The Devil is quite pleased with the result of his little experiment," she told them in a dark voice. "I've personally tried to talk some sense into him, and he's just as obstinate as he was before all of this happened. He's delighted with the way things changed and doesn't understand how we're not just as thrilled as he is. But the fact of the matter is that he's going to eventually get bored of _this_ as well, and then who knows what he'll try to do. It's not like he'll have other realms to merge again."

Asra went pale as he considered the Star's words. "Would he try to separate the realms again?"

"He might. And humans caught on the wrong side when he does..."

Asra's lips pressed together in a thin, determined line. "We can't let him do that. He's caused enough havoc already."

"Wait, wait, this _can_ be undone?" Julian asked, eyes wide.

The Star shook her head. "No, it can't. That's not going to stop the Devil from trying if he gets it in his head to do so when he gets bored again. Hundreds of thousands of people died when he merged the realms. There's no telling wha tthe death toll will be if he tries to _un_merge them. You have to stop him."

Julian stared at her, searching. She met his gaze unwaveringly, and finally, Julian nodded. "You're- you're right. You're right. We have to stop him. We can't let him continue to play with people's lives like he is."

"Does that mean you'll fight?" Thomas asked, cautiously hopeful.

Julian nodded firmly, determination setting in his features. "We have to. _I_ have to. No matter what you say, Thomas, it was- it was my deal with him that let him do this. I have to set it right- as right as I can."

Mazelinka's eyes glittered with affection as she looked at him. "I'm proud of you, Ilya. So what are we waiting for? Who was the other person who was going to help us? Nazali, was it?"

"Yes." Julian looked up at the Star. "Can you guide us to them?"

The Star nodded. "You need to go back to Vesuvia. The Satrinava family took refuge in the palace. Getting them to admit you to it will be... difficult. More difficult than it was to get Julian, Asra, and Portia and Mazelinka to listen to you was. The Devil has been tormenting _all_ of you, regardless of whether you were fighting back, as punishment for trying to stand against him in the first place. They won't be easy to convince that you are who you say you are."

The group looked at each other, and then Asra nodded. "We can deal with Nadia. Still, getting through to her will be... delicate. If she thinks we mean her and her family harm..." He sighed. "Well, we'll come to that when we come to that. Let's go."


	3. Chapter 3

The journey back to the Magician's realm was uneventful, although Julian and Mazelinka had to constantly pull Portia back from exploring Asra's gate. "It's so cool here!" she squeaked at one point. "Oh my gosh, what's that? It's so cute!" 

"Portia, don't-" Julian cut himself off as she bounded off. "Wander off," he finished with a sigh.

Asra shot him a grin. "Oh, let her explore," he said. "There's nothing harmful here. As long as she stays in sight, everything will be fine."

Julian looked doubtful, and Thomas tried, "He's right, Julian. Nothing gets in here without Asra's okay."

"Well, that's not exactly true, either," Asra said with a wince. "Any of the Arcana are powerful enough to intrude on my gate. They just don't care enough to do so."

"What- what about the Devil?" Julian asked nervously. 

"That's why I'm not going too far away, you dork," Portia said, coming back to the group, her face alight with excitement. "This is _amazing_, Asra. Can anyone do this?"

"Anyone who can use magic."

"Can you teach me?"

Asra laughed. "I'd be happy to- it might be a good idea for me to teach both you and Ilya how to use magic. We're going to need all the strength we can get."

Almost shyly, Julian said, "Uh, Thomas showed me a little bit of magic, when we were separated from our bodies. I know the basic theory behind it now, anyway."

"That's a good starting point. What about you, Mazelinka?"

"I'm already a magician," she sniffed, "but I suppose learning what you have to teach couldn't hurt. Thomas told me once that you trained him, and he's pretty powerful. I imagine the teacher is just as powerful, at least."

"Well, no. I'm not. Remember what we told you about him? Still, I'm sure I can help you learn something more than you already have. Maybe we can trade magic secrets." He gave her a half-lidded smile. "I don't know much green magic, after all."

"I think green magic will come in handy once we've gotten rid of the Devil and started rebuilding," Mazelinka replied. "Gotta learn what will grow now, for people who don't want to magic up all their food all the time. It will be nice to eat something that didn't come from thin air."

As they traveled, Asra and Mazelinka taught the group their magic. At first, Thomas didn't want to go back into the swamp that he'd met the two-headed leech in. "Seriously, they implied they'd kill me if they ever saw me again," he said flatly. "I don't want to expose any of you to that kind of danger, let alone expose _me_ to it."

"It'll be fine," Asra replied. "You have four other people with you now, two of whom are demons as well, all of whom know _some_ magic, at least. I'll be surprised if they start trouble- if we even cross paths with them."

Thomas peered at Asra. "You said you were _becoming_ demons before," he said slowly.

Asra's expression went serious. "I gave it some thought," he said. "I really think this is happening to us because of our deals with the Devil. You can't undo mine without destroying yourself and Ilya won't let you undo his. It's going to happen no matter how hard we struggle against it. It's easier to just accept it at this point."

Julian looked over at Asra, his expression thoughtful. "Maybe once we've defeated the Devil, it will stop. We'll go back to normal."

"It's possible. As I said before, the Devil can't be killed- but we can bind him so that he's powerless anymore. That would also stop his power from influencing us, but I don't know if it will reverse the damage already done." He paused, then added, "I hope you're seriously considering letting Thomas break your deal with the Devil, Ilya. I don't think even you want to live the rest of your life like this."

"I'm considering it," Julian replied grimly, glancing at Thomas. "But I _can't_ right now. There's too much riding on me being able to-"

"Hey, what's that?" Portia interrupted, pointing. 

They came to a halt, following her line of sight. Thomas's blood ran cold as he saw the giant two-headed leech, wriggling towards them. "Oh, look!" the left one said as it drew near. "Our friend from before is back! Does this mean you _want_ us to suck your blood?"

"No," Thomas answered, trying to keep the shake from his voice. "We're just trying to pass through. If you could move out of the way-"

"Oh, no," the one on the right grumbled. "That's not how this works, no, not at all. You have new companions- there are new visitors, yes. We should ask them a riddle, too."

The one on the left perked up. "Oh, yes, yes! Another riddle, yes! Tell us, who will answer this time, hm?"

Mazelinka pushed to the front of the group. "We don't have time for this nonsense," she snapped. "Let us through!"

"Oh? Oh oh!" Left gave a sound that could've almost been a laugh. "What are you talking about? You have all the time in the world! Now then, that riddle... I think it's my turn to give the riddle. What supports you and is always wet?" Thomas and Julian exchanged a look, and Thomas opened his mouth to answer, only to be cut off by Left. "No, no, that won't do. You've already answered our riddles, let someone else have some fun for once!" Its gaze swept eagerly over the group. "You there, with the white hair! Well? What's your answer?"

Asra's expression darkened. "Your skeleton. Let us pass now."

Left laughed uproariously as Right snickered. "Yes, yes, that's right! Now you can go- but not him, oh no. We've already let him go once."

"You can't have him," Asra replied through gritted teeth. "Let us through."

"We're not letting him through," Right muttered. "We're hungry- so hungry- we've been patient and kind but so little prey passes by us. You must let us have him."

Julian stepped in front of Thomas, drawing himself up to his full, monstrous height, almost as tall as the leeches. "Over my dead body!" Julian snapped. "Thomas, everyone, get back! Let me-"

"Oh no you don't!" Portia snapped, coming to stand beside him, with Asra on his other side. "You are _not_ doing this yourself, you ridiculous nerd!"

"She's right," Asra agreed, summoning his ice spear. 

"Pasha, get back," Julian demanded, casting a glance at Asra. "Asra can help me but-"

"But nothing," Mazelinka said, coming to stand next to Portia. "You're not doing this alone."

The right Leech rolled its great eyes. "Oh please. Enough of the drama. If you won't hand him over peacefully, then there's only one thing to do."

"Yes, I'm sorry to say, but you're quite right, Right," Left said. "We must feed, you see. It's nothing personal. But if you all insist on being our feed, then I suppose we will feast tonight." 

They watched in growing horror as the giant leech expanded, and reached out to them. Asra stepped forward and thrust his spear up at Right's head; Right reared back as the spear pierced the rubbery flesh. "Oh, you brute!" it roared. Left, feeling the pain as acutely as its companion, lashed out at Asra. Asra deflected one strike of its gaping maw, then another, before Julian pulled him back and struck out himself, talons flashing in the dim light of the swamp. His claws dug into Left's hide and ripped long, shallow cuts along its side.

Thomas, meanwhile, focused his magic. A bright shield flashed out around them, and the leeches, stuck on the outside, roared and thrashed against it. Portia let her magic flow up through her; Asra sensed it and perked up, watching her. "What are you-"

He silenced himself as she wove her spell; Thomas couldn't spare much attention to her, but he followed her magic as best he could. In seconds, what looked like hail began raining down from the sky, between the trees of the swamp. The hail bounced off the shield harmlessly, but as it struck the leech, the heads cried out in pain and fear. It turned to flee, but the hail followed it, burying it in white.

When the hailstorm ended, Thomas dropped his shield. "That was amazing," he said, "especially for a beginner. How did you-"

"Everyone's magic is much more potent now than it's ever been," Asra answered him, kneeling at the edge of the circle Thomas's shield had protected. He dipped his fingers in the white stones and brought them to his mouth. His eyebrows shot up. "Salt?"

"Salt!" Julian laughed. "That was some quick thinking, Pasha!"

Portia grinned. "I remembered you telling me once that you can kill slugs with salt, and leeches are _like_ slugs, aren't they?"

"They're nothing like slugs, but salt will kill them all the same." Julian cast a glance at the mound, quickly sinking into itself, and shuddered. "Everyone's okay, right? Let's keep going."

Murmuring their agreement, the group started moving again. Several days later, they reached the boundary of what Thomas assumed was Vesuvia. Colors shifted in the air around them; objects flickered in and out of existence as they watched, and the walls of the city didn't seem quite solid. They could see forms moving to and fro past the city gates, nebulous and frightening. "So are we just going to go in there and hope for the best?" Julian asked.

"Let's go back to the shop," Thomas suggested. "It was safe in the immediate aftermath of the merge. We can rest there before trying to get to the palace."

"Yes," Asra agreed. "And I can pick up a book or two to help the three of you with your magic lessons- although with what Portia did to that leech, I'm thinking she needs a bit more instruction than Ilya and Mazelinka."

As they started walking, Julian asked, "How, uh, how do you figure that? That was... that was impressive.”

“That’s exactly why she needs the instruction. She’s powerful. We don’t want someone with that kind of power to try to do something she doesn’t know how to do. That’s how disasters happen. But don’t worry, I fully intend on giving you two the same lessons. It’s just not as urgent as it is for Portia.”

The group moved cautiously through the streets, avoiding others whenever possible. One child ran across their path; Thomas thrust a hand out to halt the group as the child appeared in thin air, chasing a glittering ball of shifting colors across the street. Then, just as the child stepped off the shifting pavement, they vanished as if they’d never been there. “That was- that was bizarre,” Julian murmured, staring at the spot the child disappeared from. “It was like they just didn’t see us...”

Asra seemed to consider that. “Maybe they didn’t,” he said thoughtfully. “We have been away from the city for quite some time. We don’t know what happened here while we were gone.”

"What could have possibly happened that would make us invisible to everyone?" Mazelinka asked. 

Just then, a searingly cold wind blew through the street; Thomas wrapped his arms around himself and Julian stepped close, shielding him from the wind with his wings. "Talk later," Julian gasped. "We need to get to the shop now!"

Muttering agreements, the group jogged through the streets, fighting the icy wind the entire time. The buildings around them kept shifting and changing, and Thomas despaired of ever even finding the shop. Asra was trying to talk to him, but he couldn't hear him over the roar of the wind. He felt Asra's magic spread out over the area, and then he hollered something, gesturing for the group to follow him. They did so, eventually coming to another building that didn't look anything like the shop. Asra put his shoulder to the door and forced it open anyway, and the group stumbled in. Thomas slammed the door shut behind him, breathing heavily, chilled to his core as he looked around.

It was inded the shop, exactly as he left it, just a little dusty. The group collapsed to the floor, gasping, as Thomas summoned a ball of heat and light to warm them. "Alright, we found the shop, somehow," he panted, trying to catch his breath, "but we still don't know if we can be seen by anyone or not. And what was that wind storm? That wasn't natural."

"No, it wasn't," Asra agreed, tail flicking in agitation. "Alright, we need to deal with one problem at a time. We need to find Nadia. Assuming she can see us, she might be able to explain the conditions here. I want to help, if we can. This is my home. It's... it's terrible, seeing it like this."

"It is terrible," Thomas agreed, wrapping his arms around his chest and sinking to the floor. "There was a windstorm like that in the aftermath of the merge, but it wasn't that damn cold. Is that a common thing here now?"

"I don't know. I haven't been here since it happened," Asra answered. Then he looked over at Mazelinka, Julian, and Portia. "You three have been awfully quiet. What's on your minds?"

Mazelinka and Portia looked at each other. "What are we going to do if milady doesn't recognize us? What if she doesn't _see_ us?" Portia asked, her voice desolate. "I've waited so long to see her again, and now... we just might not be able to. I don't know how I'm going to cope with that if that's the case."

"We'll make her see us," Asra replied, his voice somewhere between soothing and determined. "We've come too far to be thwarted now. If they can't see us, we'll think of something else. But one way or another, we are _going_ to get through to them." He gave her a smile. "She would never turn her back on you, Portia."

Portia, not knowing how to answer that, hugged her legs to her chest. "So, uh," Julian said, "has the wind died down yet?"

Thomas looked out of the window. "It doesn't look like it. All the colors in the air are still racing by. We might as well get some rest. We're going to have a busy day tomorrow if we're going to try to get to the palace."

"I agree," Asra said. "Do we want to set a watch, like we've been doing?"

Thomas, after a moment's thought, shook his head. "No, I don't think that's necessary. We can lock and ward the door and that should provide enough security. We all need to sleep; that much is obvious." With that, he turned the lock in the door and pressed a hand against it, whispering a protection spell. His magic shimmered white over the door, and faded into the grain.

As Thomas stepped away, Asra took his place, whispering his own spell. "Twice the protection can't hurt," he said. "Do you think Ilya will fit up the stairs? If you want, you two can take the bed in the living space. We can make things comfortable down here."

"I think I can," Julian said hesitantly, "If you're sure about that..."

"I'm sure. Only two people can fit on that bed, and it's not like any of us are dying to share a bed with each other." He gave them a wry grin. "Don't make any noise, though. We _are_ going to try to sleep."

Asra and Mazelinka burst out laughing at the way both Thomas's and Julian's faces immediately went red. "We won't be doing any of that," Thomas snapped. "Get your mind out of the-"

"I'm just teasing you. Relax. Go get some sleep. I'll wake you up if something changes."

At that admonition, Thomas and Julian trundled up the stairs. Julian smacked his head on the ceiling; much to Thomas's surprise, no one laughed. He turned to him and checked his forehead, then said in a teasing voice, "You need to learn how to duck."

"You'd think I'd know how to duck by now," Julian replied, a rueful smile on his face. The continued up the stairs as he spoke. "I've been smacking my head on low ceilings since I was a young man. I'm used to it by now."

They emerged into the room, and Thomas sighed, dropping his bag at the foot of the bed and eying it critically. "I'm not sure your wings will fit on it," he said doubtfully.

Julian went past him and sat down on the edge of the bed. "Then they'll droop onto the floor," he replied. "I don't think I'm going to be able to sleep anyway."

Thomas sat down next to him, putting a hand on his cheek. Julian dipped into the gesture as Thomas said, "I can spell you to sleep, if you like."

Shaking his head, Julian answered, "No, no, it's fine. You know me and sleep. I never get any. If there's one thing I miss about the old world, it's coffee." He gave him a self-deprecatory smile. "I don't know how I function without it anymore. I used to be able to go for days on only a few hours of sleep as long as I had a good four or five cups in me."

"Yes, well, we don't have easy access to coffee anymore. All the more reason for you to try to sleep, Julian. Please. For me?"

Julian carefully put his arms around Thomas and pulled him close. "For- for you," he replied haltingly. "I really don't think I'll be able to sleep, but I'll- I'll try. I'll rest, at least, if it makes you feel better."

"It would." Together, the two of them crawled into the bed, Thomas nestled against Julian's chest. Carefully, very carefully, Julian lifted a hand to the back of Thomas's head and stroked his hair, bending down to kiss his forehead. Thomas squirmed closer into the embrace. "Everything is going to be okay," Thomas murmured, closing his eyes. "We have to believe that. We'll get Nadia and Nazali, and then we'll defeat the Devil, and I'll be able to free you from your deal with him. Everything is going to be okay."

"Okay."

Thomas could hear in his voice that Julian didn't believe him. There was nothing more that Thomas could say to ease his doubts and fears, though, so he focused on relaxing in Julian's careful embrace, letting the sound of Julian's heartbeat lull him to sleep. 


	4. Chapter 4

When Thomas opened his eyes again, everything sounded absolutely still. The only noise to be heard was Julian's soft, even breathing, and the sound of his heartbeat. He held still for several minutes, not wanting to disturb Julian. He hadn't expected Julian to be able to actually fall asleep, despite his admonitions to do so. He didn't want to disturb him, if he'd just gotten to sleep. 

Footsteps on the stairs roused him. They came to a halt just inside the door, and then Thomas heard them retreating, and called out very softly, "I'm awake."

Asra's voice answered him, just as softly. "I was just checking to see if you were. The wind storm's died down. Portia and Mazelinka are eager to get going, but if Julian's still asleep, we can wait."

"I don't know how much sleep he's had," Thomas answered. "I'd rather not wake him."

"That's okay. I'm sure they'll agree with you when I tell them he's still sleeping." Asra chuckled. "I would tell you to join us downstairs for breakfast, but it doesn't look like you can move without waking him."

"I'm fine." Thomas smiled slightly, looking up into Julian's peaceful face. "We'll be down as soon as he's awake. Save some breakfast for us, huh?"

"Of course." With that, Asra turned and retreated down the stairs, leaving them alone. Thomas closed his eyes, nestling closer to Julian, relishing the feel of Julian's arms around him. He wanted so desperately to protect Julian, from everything. Julian had given up so much- his very humanity- for Thomas. He didn't know how he felt about that, but he did know that they needed to make things right again, before either of them could truly be happy. In that moment, Thomas was as close to happy as he'd been since this whole mess started, so long ago... but it was merely an echo. As long as he had Julian, he would be okay, but Julian was a flight risk. He'd proved that over and again, and he didn't want to lose him again. This plan had to work. It _had_ to.

Thomas wasn't sure how much longer he laid in Julian's arms before Julian stirred, arms tightening around him. "Good morning," Julian said, his voice raspy from sleep. "I guess I was able to sleep after all."

"Good morning," Thomas replied, smiling up at him, reaching up to stroke his cheek. Julian closed his eyes at the contact, and Thomas said, "Asra's already been up here. Everyone's awake and they're saving breakfast for us. The wind's died down."

Julian sighed. "You- you should've woken me."

"I didn't know how long you'd been asleep. I wanted you to rest until you were ready to get up."

As they disengaged from each other, Julian yawned and stretched. "I'm not ready to get up," he admitted sheepishly, "but, uh, but we probably should get going. We don't know how long things will be calm."

"Right."

After a few sleepy kisses to wake Julian up, the pair headed down the stairs. "Look who's awake!" Mazelinka exclaimed. "Was starting to get worried about you, Ilya. Asra told us you were still asleep when he went up there. Was wondering if you planned on joining us at all today."

Julian gave her a grin, going to the plate of pumpkin bread sitting on the store counter. "Where'd this come from?"

"Asra magicked it up," Portia said brightly. "We helped!"

Asra watched from the corner of the shop, a blank, bland smile on his lips as he watched the two of them eat and talk with Mazelinka and Portia. When it seemed like they were done, he cleared his throat. "I'd like to get moving soon. I get the feeling it's not going to be as easy as simply walking up to the palace. The sooner we find out what's going on so we can mitigate it, the better."

"Did you do any kind of research while we were asleep?" Thomas asked curiously.

Asra nodded. "That's why I think we're going to have problems. It's like there's a spell over the entire city; I don't think the townspeople can see anyone who's an outsider, and we've all been gone long enough that we fit the bill for 'outsider'. We've got to find a way around that or _Nadia_ won't be able to see us. And I think I have a solution, but I want to make sure I'm right first. Unfortunately, that means going up to the palace and testing the theory."

"What's that solution?" Portia asked.

He heaved a sigh. "I have a- a friend, who used to live in the woods outside of Vesuvia. With any luck he's still in the area- but he has experience with this kind of thing. People who meet him don't remember him. It's not _exactly_ the same, but I think he might be able to help me come up with a solution." His voice dropped to a whisper. "But I'm scared. I haven't seen him since everything happened, and- and I don't even know if he's still alive. God, I hope he's still alive, and safe, but that's far from guaranteed in this world."

There was a somber silence before Mazelinka cleared her throat. "Maybe it would be best for us to seek out your friend. It sounds like his fate is weighing on you."

Asra shook his head. "No. Getting to Nadia is more important. If we can skip a step, I'd rather do that. I can look for him when everything is over, if we don't need to find him now."

Thomas exchanged a look with Julian. A questioning look came over Julian's face, and Thomas shook his head slightly. "I've never heard you talk about any friend like that," Julian said. "Who- uh- who is he? Can we trust him?"

"I never talk about him because he doesn't want to be talked about." Asra grimaced. "I would not only trust him with my life, I would and have trusted him with _Thomas's_. If that doesn't tell you how trustworthy he is, I don't know what to tell you."

At Asra's proclamation, Thomas's face colored a bit. "It's a bit unnerving to hear that someone I don't remember has been trusted with my life," he said quietly.

"I asked him to watch over you when I'd go on trips that took more than a few days," Asra answered immediately. "To my knowledge, he never actually had to interfere with your routine or goings-on. Still, I trusted him completely to protect you if you needed protecting. He can be trusted with this."

Julian perked a bit as Asra spoke. "That, uh, that would mean that he's got a strong connection to you, like you have to Thomas. Would he be willing to-"

"If pressed, he would. I'd rather not do that, though. He's... well. He's always insisted that I'm his only friend- he wouldn't do well traveling in a group like this. I'll think about asking him to join us, but if I do, and he refuses- don't press him. Especially not you, Ilya. You don't know this because you don't remember him, but he _hates_ you."

Julian's feathers ruffled. "What could I have possibly done to- no, wait, I suppose it's fair to assume that I _have_ done something to cause that." His cheeks flushed as he spoke.

Thomas smoothed down the ruffled feathers as Asra grinned. "You didn't do anything. You just rub him the wrong way, and he'll proclaim that he hates just about anyone but me. He won't mean it, in most cases. He might not even truly mean it in yours. I've never felt the need to push the issue, though."

"Fair enough." Julian let Thomas preen him for several more moments before catching his hands and planting kisses on both of his palms. "Well, we're not getting any closer to the palace sitting around talking about people who may or may not help us. Let's get going."

"Yes, let's," Asra agreed. They took a quick inventory of themselves, and ventured out into the shifting, surreal street. 

They traveled quickly, avoiding everyone else they saw- and they saw very few people. In all cases, if they got close enough to be seen, the strangers on the street looked straight through them and continued on their way as if they'd seen nothing. More than one person looked terrified, hustling on their way to get to their destination. “What’s is happening in this city?” Thomas murmured, watching a fearful man all but run down the street. “It’s unsettling, yes, but we haven’t seen anything dangerous yet...”

“Yet,” Asra emphasized darkly. “For all we know, the Devil has demons here terrorizing the place. Just because we haven’t seen any yet doesn’t mean they’re not here.”

“If there are any demons here, we’ll deal with them,” Mazelinka said. “Thomas here can break their deals and they’ll be ordinary people. We can deal with ordinary people.”

Thomas shook his head, the fear nearly overwhelming. He wasn’t as confident that he’d be any good as any of them seemed to be. They were relying on him to keep them safe, and he wasn’t sure he could. Still, he had to try, and so he put his head down and kept moving, one foot in front of the other.

When they reached the palace gates, two soldiers stood at tense attention, eyes darting around nervously. “Bludmila and Ludovico,” Thomas murmured. “They look so scared...”

“Let’s call it a blessing that they can’t see us,” Mazelinka declared. “They look jumpy enough to try to run us all through if they could- Asra and Ilya especially.”

“I could keep them calm,” Portia murmured, walking right up to Ludovico, staring into his terrified eyes. Then she turned back to the group. “Can’t we try to find some way to tell them we’re here? If we just open the gate, they’re gonna panic.”

Asra shook his head, tail swishing in agitation. “I’m not sure that’s a good idea. We can be in the gate and gone before they can figure out something just got past them. Trying to communicate with them... I’m afraid they’ll react just how Mazelinka predicted.”

“Asra, please. They’re... they’re my friends. I don’t want to scare them if I don’t have to.”

Asra regarded her blankly for a moment, before tiredly nodding and closing his eyes. Thomas felt Asra’s magic tingling through the air, a soothing, calming presence that immediately smoothed over Thomas’s frayed nerves.

The soldiers felt it too. “Do you... do you feel that?” Bludmila asked, eyes wide.

“I do,” Ludovico murmured. “What is that? It feels familiar- like I should know what’s causing it...”

“Should we alert the countess?”

Ludovico considered for several long, breathless minutes. “I... I think we should. We can’t leave the gate unattended.”

“I’ll go,” Bludmila said. “I’ll send someone to take my place until I’m done. Be careful, Ludovico.” She put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed; Ludovico put his hand over hers and they stood like that for several moments, before Bludmila turned and opened the gate.

“Now,” Asra said in a tight voice. “Hurry!”

Without needing further prompting, the group dashed through the gate before Bludmila could close it behind her. They paced themselves to Bludmila’s stride as she moved through the palace, searching Nadia out.

They found her in a throne room Thomas hadn’t even known existed, sitting tensely on the throne. “Bludmila,” Nadia greeted with wide eyes. “Is something wrong?”

“Yes- no- I don’t know, milady. Ludovico and I felt something at the gates, a presence, something familiar.” She took a deep breath. “I- I think it followed me in here.”

“That’s-“

Before she had a chance to finish her sentence, Asra approached her, his magic radiating off him again in soothing waves. Nadia exhaled sharply as Asra reached out and caressed her cheek softly, and Thomas joined him. “Asra?” she whispered, and Thomas let his magic flow over her as well.

Nadia closed her eyes, inclining her face to Asra’s touch. “And Thomas, as well,” she murmured, and opened her eyes. “Is it really you? I can feel you, but I cannot see or hear you...”

Asra withdrew, turning to the others. “So we know they can tell we’re here,” he said. “I really think Muriel will be able to help us break-“

“Asra?!” Nadia said, sitting upright. “Tell me you’re still here- don’t- don’t go-“

Quickly, Asra turned his attention back to Nadia, letting his magic wash over her again. She relaxed, then said in a quiet voice, “The courtiers were working with the Devil, all of them but Valerius- And even he is too far gone to help. They’ve spent all this time since we were separated terrorizing the city. Please, you must help us- please be able to hear me- please-“

“We hear you, Nadia,” Asra murmured. Together with Thomas, the pair tried to impress on her that they heard her, that they would help.

Portia’s face had darkened at Nadia’s proclamation. “I always knew the courtiers were up to no good,” she muttered. “What are we gonna do about this?”

“First, we need to find Muriel,” Asra muttered. “He can help us. I’m sure of it. I wish we could get more information from Nadia, but vague feelings are the best we can do to communicate with her. Thomas, help me tell her we’ll help.”

Thomas nodded, and took Asra’s hand. Together, they focused entirely on Nadia, on willing her to feel their intention. She understood, her face relaxing into a smile. “Thank you both. I knew I could count on you.”

With that, the group made their way back out of the castle, talking. “So is it possible that the courtiers are responsible for the spell preventing them from seeing outsiders?” Julian asked. 

Thomas answered, “That seems likely. It would explain why we’re all invisible to them despite Vesuvia being our home. The spell was cast after we left, putting us outside of its influence.”

“I agree,” Asra said, “and that means Muriel will be affected by it as well. He’s going to be so disappointed to hear we need him to break a spell that lets him be alone.”

Asra chuckled at the situation, but no one saw the humor in it. “Will, uh, will he help us? Are you sure about this?”

“He’ll help,” Asra replied, self-assured. “We just have to find him. That’ll be the hard part.”

By then, they had made it back to the gate. Asra and Thomas soothed Ludovico as they opened the gate and made their escape. “Well, only thing to do now is find this Muriel fellow,” Mazelinka said. “You said you knew where to find him, Asra?”

“I knew where to find him before the realms merged,” Asra corrected her. “I’m not sure at all if he stayed there, or if he even survived, but it’s our best bet.”

“Well alright then,” Julian said, gesturing to the street before them. “Lead on.”


	5. Chapter 5

Nothing was the way Thomas remembered it being the first time he fled the city, nor even the way it was when they passed through to get back to Vesuvia. He hadn't paid much attention to it on the return trip- he had been preoccupied with the need to get to Vesuvia and to Nadia- but he paid attention now. The forest shifted and morphed as they walked, and Thomas was unable to suppress a frustrated, "How are we supposed to find _anything_ in here?!"

"We're close," Asra said reassuringly. "We just have to bear with this a little longer."

"I don't think I'm ever going to get used to this," Portia murmured, stepping over a root that seemed to jut out the second she took a step. Her foot caught on it and she stumbled, as Mazelinka reached out to steady her. 

"You will eventually," Thomas told her sullenly. "I did. It takes time, but you'll get there."

"I don't know if I _want_ to get there!"

"I didn't," Thomas admitted, "but it still happened. It's- it's not so bad, as long as you're able to avoid monsters and demons."

"Demons," Mazelinka said slowly. "Demons are people who had deals with the Devil, right?"

"Yes," Asra answered, his soft voice flat. He didn't like to be reminded of what he was now.

"How many of them can there be?" Mazelinka asked. "People can only contact the Arcana if they have a strong link to them or they're a magician, right? Magicians- real ones, like the three of us- aren't that common. And links to the Arcana are rare, too."

"The Devil is different," Asra answered. "He will seek out people in need or want of something, rather than wait for them to come to him. If you're desperate for help, he will find you."

They looked at each other. "Does- does that mean he can find _us?"_ Julian asked, his voice trembling.

"It does, but I don't think he's going to," Asra answered, moving a branch with bright pink leaves aside. "He wants us to behave. Poking at us isn't getting us to behave. He knows at least two of us have no problems fighting with him- even if we lose terribly when we do." Asra grimaced. "With any luck, he'll assume that you and I have simply had enough and learned our lesson and leave us alone until we're ready to face him again."

"I don't like hanging our hopes on that," Mazelinka said, clucking her tongue and shaking her head.

"I don't, either, but there isn't much else we can do." Asra stopped walking, looking around. He closed his eyes, and Thomas could feel his magic reaching out, covering the ground around them. 

And then, much to his surprise, someone else's magic responded. Asra let out a breath he was holding, his face breaking into a wide smile. "He's here. Come on." 

With that, Asra started walking again, heading into the underbrush and foliage. Thorns and vines tore at their clothes and skin, but Asra didn't seem to notice, pushing on as if the way forward was clear. It took only a few more minutes of traveling before Thomas saw it: a hut, built in the protection of the roots of a giant tree. "That... that looks familiar," Thomas whispered.

"It should. I sent you to see him when you were looking for evidence of Julian's innocence." Asra approached the hut, hand hovering over the wood of the door. Thomas could see swirls of protection in the wood, and knew Asra was ready to undo them, but something was making him hesitate. Finally, Asra whispered, "What if he doesn't recognize me?"

Thomas approached and laid a hand on his shoulder. "You haven't changed _that_ much," he told him, his voice soothing. "I know he's not going to recognize Julian, but he should recognize you. We were able to recognize you in a heartbeat. So you've got fox ears and a tail now. You're still you, and if Muriel is as good a friend as you claim he is, he'll recognize you, I'm sure of it. Besides, he already responded to your magic."

"That's- that's true." With a deep breath, Asra released the protections on the door, and then opened it.

Thomas stood respectfully outside as the others creeped forward. There was the sound of a chair scraping against the floor, and then a deep voice: "Asra?!"

"It's- it's me, Muriel."

"What has he _done_ to you?"

"I did it to myself, in a way. It's okay. My magic is stronger like this. I... I have some of our other friends with us. Thomas, Ilya, and two women named Portia and Mazelinka. I- Ilya is like me, except much more severe. You.... you might not recognize him."

Muriel mumbled something Thomas couldn't catch, and Asra backed out of the hut, letting Muriel through. A huge man, tall and built, ducked out of the hut and looked over the group. His eyes went wide as they fell on Julian. "What the-" he breathed.

Thomas found himself holding his breath, inexplicably. "That's Ilya," Asra told him softly, coming to stand beside him. "He's still him. He's just a little farther along the process than I am."

Muriel's gaze shifted from one of them to the other, understanding dawning in his eyes. "You two are becoming demons."

"Yes." Asra's tone was carefully neutral. "I can't be unbound from my deal with the Devil. Undoing it would kill Thomas. Ilya _can_ be, but we've found the form he's in to be useful. He's said he'll consider letting Thomas undo his deal with the Devil, once we've taken the Devil out." Muriel sucked in a breath, and Asra said hastily, "We're not asking your help with that, but we have allies in Vesuvia we can't get to right now. The courtiers cast a spell over the city that renders outsiders invisible. We need to break that spell before we can get Nadia's help. Spells to remain unseen are your specialty. Can you help us?"

Muriel never took his mossy gaze off Julian as he spoke. "I... I can. I'll need your help, and- and Thomas's, if he'll help."

"Whatever you need from me," Thomas replied quickly. 

"The rest of you, wait out here," Muriel rumbled. "The hut isn't big enough for everyone. You'll be safe."

Muriel moved aside and Thomas gave Julian's hand a squeeze before letting go and going to Muriel and Asra. Together, the three of them entered the hut, Muriel closing the door behind them. 

The hut consisted of a single room, a bed on the far wall, beside a shelf. Several knick-knacks graced the shelf, including one that resonated with Asra's magic. Thomas felt himself drawn to that figurine, but a large wolf laid on the flood in front of the shelf; and they were there for a purpose, anyway. "This all seems familiar," Thomas said, turning back to Asra and Muriel.

Muriel snorted, and Asra said, "It will. I sent you here when this mess all began, remember? Muriel, will you give him a charm so he can remember you?"

"Why?" Muriel demanded. "We're only going to lift the spell on the city. He doesn't need to remember me beyond that."

Asra sighed. "I don't want you to struggle to survive in this world alone, Muriel."

Unable to keep an accusing note out of his voice, Muriel retorted, "I've survived just fine without you so far." Asra flinched, his mouth opening to respond, and Muriel sighed, waving Asra's protest away. "I didn't mean it like that. I understand why you left. If I had somewhere to go, I would have, too."

"I knew that I was going to be fighting back," Asra said softly, "and I knew you'd protest that. I didn't want to put you in that position. Otherwise I'd have brought you with me. I'd have brought you _all_ with me." He shoulders slumped, and he turned away. "I was trying to _protect_ all of you."

Muriel watched him with something like guilt on his face as Thomas put a hand on his shoulder. "What happened is in the past. We scattered for our own reasons. There's nothing we can do about that now."

Asra put a hand over Thomas's. "You're right. And it might've been for the best that we scattered. I don't want to know what would've happened if we'd all stayed in the same place, with the Devil playing games with all of us." Asra turned back to them. "So! Are we doing this?"

Muriel nodded. "We're doing this. I'm surprised you're asking my help, though. I'm not a magician. I'm not nearly as powerful as you and Thomas are."

"Staying hidden is your forte. We'll bring that spell down together." Asra reached for their hands, and Thomas and Muriel both took one, and then hesitantly took each other's. Thomas closed his eyes and let Asra's magic guide his, searching out the source of the spell over Vesuvia. He saw it, smothering the city like a burial shroud, dark red and black and suffocating. 

Carefully, the three of them focused on the magic, working to unravel it. It resisted them, but started to give under the force of their efforts. Just as it began to disintegrate at the edges, though, their magic _snapped_ back at them. Asra yelped in shock and yanked away from them, breaking their own spell as sparks flew from their hands where they were joined. Muriel and Thomas yanked away from each other as well, and the three of them stood there, breathing heavily, looking at each other.

Thomas finally broke the silence. "What- what _was_ that?"

"Someone doesn't want us to break that spell," Muriel said, his gaze shifting from Thomas to Asra. "It's going to be harder to do this than you want it to be."

Asra cursed softly. "We're going to have to go after the courtiers," he murmured. "Alright, let's go back out there and see who's willing to go with us."

Muriel opened the door, and they filed out. Julian sprang to his feet as they all looked up. "Well?" Julian asked. "How did- uh- how did it go?"

"We aren't able to break the spell that way," Thomas answered. "Asra thinks we have to go after the courtiers. If things were as simple as just doing away with them, Nadia would have by now, so... so we need to know who's willing to come with us. This is going to be dangerous."

Julian, Mazelinka, and Portia exchanged looks. "I'm going," Julian said firmly, "especially if you're going."

"Wouldn't miss this for the world," Portia added, sharing a smile with Mazelinka. "It'll be nice to finally put those stuffy courtiers in their place."

"Then the only one we need an answer for is you, Muriel." Asra shook his head ever so slightly as Thomas turned to him, but he ignored it. "It's your choice. Asra's told us enough about you to know you'd prefer to be alone. Whether you chose to come with us or not is up to you- but we could use the help."

Muriel looked torn, looking to Asra for guidance. "I don't want to," he said in a soft, unsure voice, "but this feels like something I _have_ to do. I don't know how much longer they'll be satisfied with simply imprisoning Vesuvia. If this helps you get at the Devil faster to make sure he doesn't try to expand his power more than it already has. Getting Vesuvia out from underneath him will help, I think."

"Alright, but you're going to need to fight," Asra said quietly. "Are you willing to do that?"

Muriel went pale, but he nodded without hesitation. "This is... this is different from the coliseum. This is a matter of saving people, not- not just killing. But I _won't_ kill them. If you want them dead you're going to have to kill them yourselves."

At that, they all looked at each other. "I hadn't thought of that," Thomas said. "Do we want them dead?"

Asra shook his head, ears flattening to his head and tail flicking in agitation. "I don't want to kill them if we don't have to. That's not who I want to be."

"But Asra," Julian protested quietly, "they might not give us a choice in the matter."

"I know. I know- and if they don't give us any choice, I'll be the one to do it."

"That might drive you deeper into this transformation-"

"Ilya-"

"It should be me."

Asra shook his head. "You don't have the flexibility to do it. I can fight the transformation, and I can fight it if killing them _does_ cause the transformation to advance." He gave them a sad smile. "Besides, this is a big 'if'. I think we can subdue them just fine."

"I hope you're right," Thomas murmured. He didn't want anyone to die, either. Enough people had died when the worlds merged. There couldn't be anymore death on their account.

"Well," Portia said, after a moment of silence, "let's go give those courtiers what-for. I'm so sick of them."

"Agreed," Asra said, and togther, the group headed off again, back to the city.


	6. Chapter 6

The city was quiet as they made their way back to it. Thomas almost expected another windstorm, but all was calm as they made their way through the city. "I wonder," Muriel mused, as they walked, "can people _leave?_"

"We don't know," Thomas answered. "I assume they can, since we can get in so easily, but that's a big assumption. If they _can't_ leave... all the more reason to free the city, so that people have the freedom to leave, if they want to. But, how are we going to find the courtiers?"

Julian and Portia exchanged a look. "We know where they live," Portia said. "We can try their estates first, and then if we can't find them, I guess you and Asra can do that magical search thing you do."

Thomas looked at Asra; Asra looked right back. "Will that work?" Thomas asked blankly. "We've only used it to find people close to us so far."

Asra responded with a shrug. "It's worth a shot, at least. If it works, it works. If it doesn't, we're no better or worse off than we were before we tried."

"Who are we starting with?" Julian asked.

Portia thought about it for a moment. Finally, she said, "Let's start with Volta. She was always the most harmless of them all. She might even help us, if we can convince her that doing so will be good for her. We'll need to promise her food, but I think milady will be willing to make good on any promises we make. She always did like Volta best- Volta and Valerius."

"I'd rather not go after Valdemar if we don't have to," Julian said quietly.

Thomas glanced at him, setting his shoulders firmly. "We have to," he replied. "Trust me, after our encounter with them, I'd rather give them _wide_ berth, but this is something we have to do. We need to get the courtiers under control one way or another- and that includes Valdemar. We know I can beat them."

A clawed hand rested gently on Thomas's shoulder, dragging him, and the rest of the group, to a halt. "At what cost?" Julian asked quietly. "I have nightmares about the way you screamed when you fought them, Thomas. I- I can't watch you get hurt like that again. I _can't_."

There was silence in the street as they all processed what Julian said. "I'm not eager to get hurt like that again, either," Thomas said softly, with a smile, "but now we know what we have to do- and you and everyone else can help. They won't hurt me like that again."

"That's not a promise you can make," Julian retorted, his voice gentle. 

No one said anything for a few long minutes. Finally, Asra said, as if he was dreading the answer, "What happened to him?" 

Thomas didn't want to answer him. Asra was protective of him; the fear that he'd blame Julian for what happened was the first thing on his mind. Julian held Thomas's gaze; he could see the same fear in his eyes. Asra watched them for a moment before saying, "I can't help when we face them again if I don't know what happened. Give me something to prepare for, please."

Thomas's gaze flicked to Asra. "It wasn't his fault."

"I wasn't planning on blaming anyone but Valdemar." Asra's gaze was steady, but Thomas saw sadness in his violet eyes. 

He took a deep breath. "Valdemar cornered us in Death's realm. They moved to hurt us- probably to kill us- and I saw them- I saw them as a demon, I know now. With chains wrapped around their body. I broke one of the chain links, and they fled, but the pain was excruciating. I collapsed from it- only for a few seconds- but it scared the hell out of Julian."

"I can imagine." Asra's voice was completely void of judgment, an undercurrent of thoughtfulness to it. "How long do you think it took you to recover from it?"

Thomas and Julian exchanged a glance, their cheeks coloring. "I'm not sure how long it took. When Valdemar fled, Death was able to communicate with us, and offered us sanctuary until we were both rested," Thomas answered. "He said time wouldn't pass while we were there, so any guess as to how long it took would be meaningless."

Asra nodded, and Thomas could see the wheels turning in his head. "Well, the good news is that we know what's coming," he said finally. "And we'll be able to help you this time. I don't like the idea of you getting hurt, though I guess we can't avoid it. Maybe it'll be easier now that you know what's going on, too."

"That's a fair point." Thomas started walking again, leading the others to follow him. Portia jogged to walk beside him, leading them to Volta's estate. "I know what I can do now. Knowing that might be all I need to avoid being hurt like that again."

"We can hope!" Portia said, trying to sound cheery and only sounding nervous. "Let's just hold that thought for now. We don't know that Volta will give us the same trouble Valdemar will. Volta's always been gentle and almost kind to me. If she's a demon like the others, I can't imagine that she wants to stay that way."

"I hope you're right, Pasha," Mazelinka said, keeping her eyes straight ahead. "We need all the allies we can get to do this."

The group made their way carefully through the city. The walk seemed to take forever; Thomas had no idea Vesuvia was so damn _big_, and Asra often told him there were cities bigger than this. He couldn't fathom that, and he forced his thoughts away from that course as soon as it sank in. The thought of other cities in the world suffering like this one made his heart ache. He wondered if the Devil had minions tormenting the other big cities of the world, but shoved such thoughts away. They could do nothing for the rest of the world. They had to focus on Vesuvia. 

Portia led them in silence after that, and eventually, as the bright, neon night fell, they reached Volta's estate. Portia walked up to the door and hesitated, then pounded her fist firmly against the door. "Volta!" she called out, her voice stern and unwavering. "It's Portia! We need to talk!"

At first, silence greeted her. Portia called out again, and then started when a sharp _click_ came from the door. She looked back at the others, eyes wide, and Julian pushed to the front of the group. "Let me open it," he said. "I can best withstand any booby traps she's set."

"Be careful," Thomas called, worry thick in his voice. "Please be careful."

Julian nodded, and set his clawed hand on the door handle, and pulled. He cringed, waiting, as the door opened slightly, holding it still. Nothing happened. Slowly, he opened it all the way, and there were no traps triggered, nothing scary came rushing out at them. "I think it's safe," Julian said, peering into the darkness. "Or as safe as anything is anymore. Let me take the lead."

Portia shook her head. "No, I think I need to take the lead. She knows me. She'll panic if she sees you first."

"Let me walk with you," Thomas offered. "She knows me, too. Asra, Julian, you stick to the back of the group, Mazelinka and Muriel in the middle. We want her to see that we're not threatening her right now. We'll deal with it if she makes a move to attack us, but- but I think Portia's right. I think she's going to be easy to turn to our side."

"Keep your guard up, still," Asra said, glancing at Julian. Julian nodded in agreement as Asra said, "If she's a demon, she's still dangerous."

"We'll be careful." Thomas squared his shoulders. "Let's go find her."

Asra, Thomas, and Portia gathered magic in their hands, setting magical lights above them to guide their steps. The lights were comforting, forcing back the darkness of the manor. The place was cluttered; they had to take care where they stepped, lest they step on smaller stacks of _stuff_, as they squeezed through large columns of items. Thomas stopped for a moment to examine a rack of clothing; they all looked like Masquerade costumes. Even with his stunted memory, Thomas knew there hadn't been so many Masquerades as to fill a rack to bursting, as this one was. Portia whispered Thomas's name, and he turned away from the rack, hurrying to catch up.

"We'll be in here for hours if we don't do something," Asra muttered. He closed his eyes and stretched out his magic, and a moment later, Thomas felt a _tug_, as if someone else's magic was beckoning to them. Asra opened his eyes. "She's in one of the dining rooms," he told them. "There's no chance that you know the layout of this place, is there, Portia?"

"Unfortunately not," Portia answered, worrying her bottom lip between her teeth. "I've never actually been here before. If your magic can point us in the right general direction, though-"

"Somewhere in that direction." Asra made a vague gesture. "But that's where the sensation is the strongest. It's like she's _everywhere_ in here. It kind of unnerving."

"Well, we're not getting anywhere standing around being intimidated," Thomas said, and continued walking in the direction Asra indicated. "I can sense her, too. It feels like she's frightened."

"I feel that, too," Asra answered as they walked. "Of us?"

"Probably of a lot of things," Portia said, moving aside a rolling cabinet. "She's always been easy to intimidate. We'll just have to do our best to ease her fears to get her to cooperate with us."

"Less talking, more walking," Muriel said. The group fell silent.

After some exploring, they finally found the dining room in question. "Volta?" Portia called out, as the magical lights moved to illuminate the room. The long dining table was empty, covered in dust. Sitting in the chair at the head of the table was a small, brown creature, trembling and wringing its tiny hands. Portia approached slowly, keeping her hands where Volta could see them. "What's- what's happened to you?"

"Portia?" the creature whispered, looking up and snuffling hopefully. "Have you come to give Volta food? Oh, please have food for Volta. Please, please... I'm so hungry..."

Portia looked back at the group; Thomas shrugged and Mazelinka stepped forward. "We've been able to get food through magic," Mazelinka said slowly. "Are you unable to do that?"

"Oh, I can, I can, but the others- the others say I should not! All of my strength needs to be to keep the spell on Vesuvia to keep help from reaching the countess- to keep you from reaching the countess." Then she whimpered. "But oh, I do not want to do this anymore. I do not want Countess Nadia to be a prisoner in her own home, oh, I do not!"

Thomas approached very cautiously. "Why are you doing this? Why keep us from Nadia?"

The creature snuffled. "I am not sure, I am not sure... The Devil, he was mad that you escaped- that all of you escaped. He meant to keep you here. Here, where you cannot cause trouble. But what trouble could you cause? We're powerful. He's powerful... surely he is not afraid of you?"

Portia reached out and gingerly stroked Volta's furry head. "You don't have to live like this, Volta," she crooned. "We're here to stop it. We're here to cause the trouble the Devil is so worried about. But we do need the countess's help to do it." Volta stared up at her, her good eye watery, and Portia said, "You must be famished if you've spent all this time here, maintaining the spell without being able to summon food for yourself... It isn't fair to you to do that to you. We can stop it- but we need your help, Volta. Please."

Volta looked down, snuffling wildly. "It won't be enough," she sobbed. "It's never enough!"

All eyes turned to Thomas, and he took another step forward. "You're like this because of your deals with the Devil, right?"

Volta nodded, tears spilling out of her eyes. "I was so, so hungry... There was no food, no food anywhere. I was starving, I was so weak with hunger... I hadn't eaten anything but bones for days, bones from the graveyard I dug up, looking for something, _anything_ to eat... and then he came to me, he did, promising me... promising me all the food I could ever eat, if only I would be his servant. I... I was starving, I was _dying_, I couldn't say no... I didn't want to die. I didn't want to die!"

The group was silent, watching as the little creature wept openly. Thomas knelt by the chair, extending a hand. "I can free you," he said softly. "You don't have to be bound to the Devil anymore. I can break those deals with him, and then you'll be your own person again. Will you let me help, Volta?"

Volta looked up at him, her eyes still watery. "You will help Volta? After all Volta's done..."

"I'll help. I don't want to see you suffering anymore. And we will bring you food before we leave, too. But you have to let me unbind you, first."

The little creature leapt at Thomas, tiny claws digging into his shirt as she clung to him. "Help me!" she pleaded. "Free me! Please! I don't want to do the Devil's bidding anymore, no, I do not! You must help poor Volta!"

Grimacing, Thomas wrapped his hands around her little body and pulled her from his shirt, setting her back onto the chair. "I will," he said soothingly. "I just need you to be still. This will be uncomfortable for both of us, but it should be quick."

"Thomas-" Julian started.

Thomas silenced him with a gesture. "It's okay, Julian. I'm okay." With a deep breath, Thomas closed his eyes, focusing his magic on the little creature before him. He could see the chains wrapped around her little body, bright and hot, binding her body tightly. After a moment of hesitation, he reached out and grasped the burning chains. Pain shot up his arms, white hot and excruciating, and he swallowed back a scream, focusing all his power on finding the weak link. His magic wrapped around the chains, glowing brighter and brighter, overwhelming the magic behind them.

And then he stumbled backwards as one of the links _snapped_ and the whole thing unraveled in front of him. Julian yelped his name as his hands shot out to steady him, digging into his shoulders. Thomas winced but made no effort to pull away, watching the bright flash of light before them as it faded, revealing a tiny woman, sitting on the chair. Whereas Volta's skin had an unhealthy palor to it before, she was bright and healthy now, her eye darting back and forth around the room. "I-" she whispered, hands going to her face. A bright smile broke out over her features as she lowered her hands. "I can feel it- I'm free- I'm _free_\- Oh thank you, magician! Thank you, thank you, _thank you!_"

Thomas smiled, a little tiredly. "How do you feel?"

"Hungry! So very hungry. I- I dropped my portion of the spell. I just- I couldn't hold onto it without the Devil's power." She looked up at them pleadingly. "Please, you must help me get some food! I'm still hungry. I thought I wouldn't be now, but I am!"

Asra stepped forward. "I think you'll be fine now," he said kindly. "I think, now that you're free of the Devil, your hunger can be satiated. Guys, can you help me summon up some food? I think we could all do with a meal. I'll show you how to do it, Volta. Watch me. Thomas, you go sit down and rest. That... that didn't look pleasant."

"It wasn't pleasant." Thomas wanted to help with the food, as well, but he was bone-tired and didn't have it in him to argue with Asra. He went to one of the chairs at the long banquet table and sank down into it, watching as his friends gathered around Asra. In minutes, they had a veritable feast. Muriel gathered food for his plate and retreated to the other end of the room, settling down on the floor to eat alone; Asra watched him and then followed suit, as the rest of them sat around the table, relaxed, talking animated amongst themselves.

"How do you feel now?" Thomas asked, at the end of the meal. Asra wandered back to the table as he spoke.

Volta looked up at them, gratitude shining in her good eye. "I feel much better," she said enthusiastically. "I'm not hungry anymore. I'm full, so very full, I can't remember the last time I was full. Thank you, thank you, _thank_ you." She took a deep, satisfied breath, and looked around the room, a small smile touching her lips. "You are here to free Vesuvia, are you not? It will not be easy- no, it will not. The other courtiers, they all agree with what the Devil is doing." She hesitated. "Except the Consul. He is being corrupted much like Volta and the other courtiers, but he is- he is fighting it. If you seek him out, help him, he will help you."

The group all looked at each other. "Where is Valerius?" Thomas asked. 

"He is at his home, he is. But oh- do be careful. He is being guarded, and guarded closely. The Devil has plans for him when he stops fighting." She sighed. "But you can't go right now, no you cannot; you must be exhausted. You helped Volta; let Volta help you. Rest here for the night. I can keep you safe. I can't give you much more than that, but I can give you that at least."

Again, they all looked at each other. "Well?" Thomas asked softly, his gaze flicking over to Muriel. "Do we move on immediately, or do we rest here for a while?"

"I say we rest," Mazelinka said immediately. "You've all been pushing yourselves hard, too hard. If we're safe here, then we should take advantage of that." 

The others murmured in agreement, and Thomas asked Asra, "What about Muriel? Can you ask him what he wants to do?"

"I can speak for him," Asra replied. "He'll be willing to stay. He might not be willing to _rest_, though. He'll want a watch set, regardless of how safe Volta can keep us. I'll watch half the night, and he'll watch the rest."

"I can help," Julian offered immediately. "I don't need sleep as much since-" He gestured down his body.

Asra gave him a smile. "I'm in the same boat. I still enjoy sleeping, though, so being able to split the watch three ways instead of two will be appreciated."

Volta listened in interest, and then said, "It is not necessary, no it is not- yet if that's how you'll be able to rest best, I suppose it's alright. Come now. I will show you to the guest rooms. You can rest there."

The group got up, as Asra wandered back over to Muriel, speaking softly to him. In only a few seconds, Muriel rose and the two of them joined the others, and Volta led them out of the room.

Two hours later, Thomas laid beside Julian, unable to sleep. He couldn't get the thought of other cities suffering from his mind. Julian slept peacefully beside him; frustrated, Thomas rose and quietly padded out of the room.

Asra sat on the floor in the hallway, awake and alert. His fox ears twitched when Thomas came out of the guest room, and Asra looked up at him, a fond smile on his lips. "Couldn't sleep?" he asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

Thomas shook his head, sinking down against the wall to sit beside him. "I keep thinking about the rest of the world," Thomas murmured, looking at his hands. "Is it like this _everywhere?_"

"Yes," Asra replied, his voice tinged with sorrow. "The entire world was merged with the realms. Nowhere was spared this. I've never been outside of Vesuvia's territories, but I... all this-" he gestured at himself- "-gives me a little bit more insight. I don't need to see it for myself to know it. I can _feel_ it."

Thomas's gaze flicked from Asra's profile back to his hands. "Are there people like us, fighting for freedom now? Or is the Devil singularly focused on Vesuvia?"

"That, I don't know, but I do know that if we're able to take him out, it frees _everyone_." He exhaled sharply. "Then we just have to get used to this new world."

"I've... I've already gotten used to it. It took me a while to find Julian. Scout helped. Malak helped." Thomas glanced at Asra again. "Speaking of Malak, I... I didn't see Faust when we found you."

Asra gave a little puff of laughter. "The new world scares her. She spends all of her time hiding now. I let her know I was leaving- and I can communicate with her still. I know she's safe with the Magician." He bit his lip, thinking. "When all of this is all over, I'd like to take her out exploring. Traveling. Like I used to. There's got to be so much more to the world to see now. Now that I've had time to get used to the idea, the thought of wandering around with things like this is strangely alluring."

Asra's attitude caused a swift lance of pain and fear through Thomas's heart. "Asra, the world is _dangerous_ now. Please don't- don't wander off where we can't reach you."

Asra's expression softened. "I would never just leave," he replied softly. "I will always come home, Thomas. Nothing that can happen to me or this world will change that. And as dangerous as this world is- I'm more dangerous than it. I'll be fine. But first we have to do this thing before I can even think about adventuring again."

Thomas nodded, looking away. "I hope we stand a chance. I don't know what's so special about Vesuvia that the Devil would target it specifically, but-"

"To hurt us." Asra shrugged. "In hopes that we'll give up this quest and go away. Who knows? But we can do this, Thomas. We _have _to. We're the only ones who can."

"I- I know that." He sighed. "I just wish there was a clear path to take."

"I know. I do too." Asra reached over and patted Thomas's shoulder. "You should try to get some sleep. Want me to help with that?"

Shaking his head, Thomas replied, "No, that's alright. I always wake up groggy when you spell me to sleep."

"That's fair. Is Ilya asleep?" Thomas nodded, and Asra said with a wry grin, "Try not to wake him up when you go back to bed. He is a _terribly_ light sleeper, as I'm sure you've discovered by now."

Thomas rolled his eyes, standing, although he was smiling. "We should trade notes sometime."

"I am absolutely certain you don't want to do that," Asra replied, laughing quietly, shaking his head. "Go to bed, Thomas. Sleep well."


	7. Chapter 7

The next morning, they all awoke refreshed. Volta insisted on summoning them all food for the road, as well as breakfast. "It's the least I can do after what you did for Volta," she replied brightly. "Here, take them, take them- Valerius's estate is across the city, it is. It will take you quite some time to get there, you will get hungry." She smiled brightly. “I suppose it’s alright,” Thomas said, doubt in his voice. “We’ll need to save our strength for whatever we find in Valerius’s estate.”

“Yes, exactly! Take it, take it. And oh, do be careful, be very careful. I don’t know what I’ll do if you get hurt. I-“ Her gaze dropped to the side, her voice softening. “I can’t stand against them,” she murmured softly. “I can’t. They’re too powerful. But oh, I am so tired of living under their shadow.” She looked back up at them. “So be careful. Promise that you’ll be careful. If they’re too strong, promise that you’ll run, run away until you’re strong enough to win.”

“We promise,” Thomas said solemnly. “Trust me- we have no intention on letting them kill us.”

“Oh, that makes Volta feel better. Good luck!”

With that, they began their trek across the city. Another wind storm kicked up around them, but they gritted their teeth and pressed on, shutting out the flickering lights and colors on the gale that blew around them.

But the storm wasn’t as strong as it had been when they first arrived. When Thomas asked Asra what it meant, Asra shrugged. “It could mean nothing. Not every storm has the same intensity. But it could mean that the courtiers are fueling these storms, and without Volta, they’re weaker.” A gust of wind buffered them, and they all put their heads down and forced their way through it. When Asra looked up again, he was gasping. “I hope it’s the latter. Knowing that they’re getting weaker as we remove them would be a comfort.”

As they approached Valerius’s estate, the wind died down to a light breeze. The building before them was solid, unchanging, unlike every other structure they had encountered. Portia stepped up to the door and swung her fist against it. “Valerius!” she called. “I know you’re in there! We need to talk to you!”

At first, nothing happened. Julian looked around nervously. “Uh, do you think we should just go in?” he asked. “If Valerius is in the same state that Volta was-“

“Aye, it might be best for us to show ourselves in,” Mazelinka said, pushing to the front of the group. She tried the door; it was locked. Grimacing, she pulled a pin from her hair and set about picking the lock. In seconds, the door swung open.

Portia and Julian didn’t seem surprised, but Asra said, “That’s a neat trick. Where did you learn how to pick locks?”

She flashed him a grin as they entered the manor. “I was a pirate,” she replied with a shrug. “We often acquired chests and luggage that were locked. Had to see what was inside them somehow.”

Muriel closed the door behind them, scowling. “Is that important right now?” he demanded, and then added, without giving anyone a chance to respond, “We’re here to find the consul. I want to get this over with.”

Murmuring their agreement, the group set off, exploring the manor. Like Volta’s estate and the magic shop, it seemed that the chaos outside didn’t bleed into the building. As Thomas observed this, Muriel said, “It’s like that at my hut, as well. I don’t think the chaos can enter closed structures.”

“So don’t leave the door open,” Julian said with a grin. Muriel glared at him, but said nothing.

All was silent in the estate, except for their footsteps and breathing. Something in the air shifted, and Asra’s arm flung out, driving the group to a stop. “Wait. We- we just entered a different realm.”

“What do you mean?” Portia asked.

“They’re all merged together, but there are still boundaries between them. We’re in one of the formally magic realms, rather than the physical one.”

“Like how we were in the Star’s realm?”

“Exactly.” Asra frowned hard. “I- I don’t know what this means. Do we continue or do we turn back and try to figure this out?”

Thomas focused his magic on their surroundings, concentrating. A profound sense of loss permeated his consciousness, loss and fear. “Do you feel that, Asra?”

In a moment, he felt Asra’s magic join his. “Yes,” he said after a moment, his voice soft. “Someone in here is in deep distress.”

“Could it possibly be a trick?” Julian asked.

Asra shook his head. “Possibly but I don’t think it is. I can’t tell who it is but someone in here needs help.”

“Then we have to continue,” Julian said immediately. “We can’t let someone languish in pain.”

“No, we can’t,” Muriel agreed. His mossy gaze flicked to the women. “Well? Are you joining us, or will you go back?”

“Are you kidding?” Portia exclaimed. “We’re going with you! We are not splitting up again, even if we didn’t want to help.”

“She’s right,” Mazelinka said. “I’m not letting you kids go traipsing off into danger without me.”

"Onward, then," Asra muttered, and they started moving again. 

The space around them was calm, calmer than it had been before they entered this new realm. It felt to Thomas like it had in the Magician and Star's realms, and he said as much; "I think you're right," Asra murmured. "We're in an Arcana's realm. So close to Vesuvia, though? And I can't imagine which Arcana it could be." His gaze flicked to Portia. "Did he ever talk about magic?"

Portia shook her head. "No. He was very firm in his disdain for magicians- he _always_ refered to them as witches." She shot Thomas a grin. "In fact, he offended Thomas with that when they first met."

Thomas chuckled, rolling his eyes. "I wasn't _offended_, but he was being _rude_. Asra always told me not to let people talk that way to me, and I wasn't about to let him do that."

"You should've seen him, Asra," Portia chuckled. "You should've seen _Nadia_. Valerius tried to embarass him and just ended up embarassing himself."

"That sounds like him, from what I recall of him," Asra answered. Although the words were light, his tone was tense as they traveled through the mansion. 

Thomas stretched out his magic in front of them several times, directing them towards the person in distress. He took them through a great antechamber and then down a set of stairs, the air around them growing danker by the second. Asra, Portia, and Mazelinka created magical lights to guide their steps as darkness closed in on them. As they reached the bottom of the stairs, Thomas spotted a bundle, wailing weakly. He knelt by it and pulled aside the blanket wrapped around it, and drew back in horror. "Asra!" he called.

Asra rushed to his side, stooping to see the shriveled, sunken figure. "That's- that's the Hierophant," he muttered, and then replaced the blanket. "What happened to him?"

Julian cleared his throat. "I- I- that is, Thomas and I encountered Death, before we came back to the Magician's realm," he said, his voice grave. "Death said that the Devil's deals with Valdemar sapped him of his strength, because of his close connection with Valdemar. Could- could the same thing be happening here?"

"I'm almost certain of it," Asra said, standing upright and helping Thomas up. "We have to assume that Valerius is the one doing this, but... the man's a priss, but he's not _evil_. I don't think he's doing this on purpose. Maybe this is a situation like the one with Volta?"

"Only one way to find out," Julian said, pushing his way to the front of the group. Thomas called after him, then sighed and fell into step with the rest of the group. Julian wasn't going to listen to him right now. He thought they were in danger; as he'd done several times already, he'd try to scare the danger away before the rest of them got violent. Thomas was certain that wasn't necessary in this case, but when Julian made up his mind about something...

As they reached the end of the corridor, Thomas saw that it opened up into a large chamber. As the group fanned out, he saw Valerius sitting on a rickety bed, but he wasn't Valerius. A curved horn sprouted from the side of his head, and half of his face was monstrous and twisted. His malformed mouth twisted into a grimace as he looked at them. "I'm surprised you dared to show your face here," he sniffed. "Didn't you all do enough damage already?"

"What are you talking about?" Thomas asked, irritated. 

Valerius swung a hand out over the damp chamber. "The nightmare outside," he snarled. "You could have stopped him, but you didn't!"

"We're doing damage control now," Asra intervened. "We're going to stop him from continuing to toy with the world, but we need your help, Valerius."

Valerius's lip rose in a sneer. "And what, praytell, do you think _I_ can do to help you, _witch?_"

Asra closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. Thomas didn't give him a chance to respond. "There's a spell cast over the city," he said. "It's keeping us from getting to Nadia and her sisters. We need you to let go of your portion of the spell. I can help you. You- you don't have to live like this, Consul."

"Live like _what?_" But Thomas could hear the frantic notes beneath the scorn.

"You weren't surprised by what Ilya and I look like," Asra said evenly. "I don't need to tell you that you're transforming into something you don't want to be, do I?"

Valerius flinched. "I-"

He cut himself off, terror crossing his features. Thomas took a step closer. "I freed Volta," he said quietly, "and I can free you. I promise."

Valerius's eyes flicked from one member of the party to the next, almost frantic. "I'm not- I'm not part of this spell over Vesuvia," he whispered. "I cannot help you..."

Disappointment flared hot in Thomas's chest, but he kept it hidden, smiling reassuringly at Valerius. "That doesn't matter. I'll still help you. I don't want you to live like this, not if you don't want to."

"What about your friends?" he asked, gaze darting between Asra and Julian. "Surely if you could free people from the Devil's bonds, you'd have freed them?"

"We've refused," Asra said flatly, in a tone of voice that left no room for questioning, "for our own reasons. That's no reason why _you_ have to refuse. It's painful, isn't it? The transformation. I know."

"We both do," Julian added softly. "Let him help you, Consul."

Valerius closed his eyes. "I do not want to live like this," he murmured. "Help me."

Thomas stepped forward, nodding. He closed his eyes, feeling for the Devil's chains. He could see them, wrapped tightly around Valerius, constricting every breath he took. "This might hurt a bit," he murmured, and reached out and grabbed one of the chains, pouring his magic into them. First one, then two broke, and soon the chains fell to the ground and dissolved into ash. When Thomas opened his eyes, Valerius stood before them, whole and human again. He looked at his hands, breathing a sigh of relief. "Thank you," he said softly. "Thank you- I don't know what or how that happened, but-"

"Were you making deals with the Devil?" Asra asked him.

Valerius's face flushed. "I- I was. When Nadia fell into her coma, and the city was left to me to run, I- I was scared. I was overwhelmed. He came to me, offering to make my life easier. Just a little bit. But as he held up his end of the bargains, I began asking for more and more, until-" He gestured down at himself.

"The Devil has a way of making him believe he's doing you a favor," Asra replied, eyes narrowed. "I'm just glad we were able to help you before anything worse happened. You said you have no part of the spell over Vesuvia. Can you tell us where the other courtiers are, though?"

He shook his head. "I cannot. When I refused to help them enchant the city, they imprisoned me here, under pain of death. I- I obeyed them, I'm sorry to say. I was afraid of them, of what they'd become."

"I think I can help you."

Everyone turned at the sound of the voice, clear and strong, in the entrance of the chamber. The Hierophant stood there, tall and healthy, and Asra and Thomas relaxed in relief. "Are we glad to see you," Thomas said with a smile.

The Hierophant cleared his throat. "Yes, well. I am only sorry you had to see me in such a state. We have important things to discuss, but- not here. Let us go back upstairs where we'll be more comfortable. You too, Valerius."

Valerius blanched. "Won't the others sense that I've been freed?"

"They will, but they won't dare stand against me now that I've been restored. Come. I will provide refreshment and we can discuss your next steps."

Half an hour later, the group sat in a lush garden, sitting around an ornate metal table. Thomas took a deep breath, taking in the calm around them. The enviornment was almost like it was before the merge; peaceful, _normal_. He knew it wasn't, that this was the Hierophant's doing, but it was nice to be able to relax. He had almost forgotten what relaxing was like.

As they sat in companionable silence after their meal, Valerius cleared his throat. "You said you've freed Volta already?"

"Yes," Thomas answered. "She all but begged us to do so."

Valerius snorted. "She agreed to help the others with their spell, but only just barely, because she was frightened of them. I refused, and they trapped me down in that dungeon to keep me out of the way. I owe you a great debt, so I will say this once- you're up against impossible odds. Valdemar has recovered from what you did to them- more than recovered. They're stronger than ever. I suggest you seek out Death, rather than meeting them head-on."

"What about Vulgora and Vlastomil?" Portia asked.

Valerius thought about it for a moment, then said, "Go after Vlastomil first. He's never been particularly strong-willed. All he wants to do is be with his precious worms. Vulgora may give you a hard time. Assuming they all are feeding off of an Arcana, you may need to seek theirs out to get the upper hand, as well."

The group exchanged a look. "If I recall correctly, Vulgora represented the Tower at the banquet," Asra said thoughtfully. "Thomas and Julian have been to the Tower's realm. Did anything strange stand out to you while you were there?" The two of them looked at each other. Julian shrugged, and Thomas said, "No, not that I was aware of. We were in a- well, a tower, that was a loop, Julian said. Julian jumped out the window at one point-"

"Why in the world would you-"

"-and ended up back in the tower."

Uncomfortably, Julian said, "I jumped out the window because I thought I heard someone crying for help. Thomas told me it was just the tower preying on my fears."

Mazelinka snorted. "That sounds like you."

"Hey-"

"How did you get out?" Asra said, interrupting the dispute.

Julian and Thomas looked at each other again. "Thomas taught me how to use a little bit of magic, and he used our combined power to just- blast out of it."

Asra blinked. "You used magic? I'd have loved to see that. Maybe I should be teaching you, too." Then he sighed. "I don't know. The Tower represents something that needs to be destroyed to move forward, and it sounds like your fear of magic was what you needed to give up."

"That's the conclusion we came to," Thomas offered.

Nodding, Asra continued, "It certainly doesn't sound like the same situation that we've had with the Hierophant, or that you had with Death. I'm not sure seeking out the Tower will be helpful at all."

Valerius leaned forward. “I urge you to try. I’m not sure you’re taking Vulgora seriously enough. Normally I’d just let you do as you will and learn the hard way but my freedom is riding on your success or failure. I can’t make you go to the Tower but I think you’d be raging idiots not to at least try.”

“Your informed opinion is duly noted,” Asra said coolly. Valerius scowled at him, but said nothing. "Regardless of whether or not we're going to the Tower, are we agreed to take Vlastomil out next?" Everyone in the group nodded, and Asra looked up at the Hierophant. "Can we ask you for a favor?"

"Of course. If it is within my power, it will be done."

"Can you see if the Tower is truly in distress? I'd rather not waste a trip to a realm if it's not necessary." 

The Hierophant inclined his head, and said, "You will remain here for the night, correct? I will have an answer for you by the time you're rested."

"Thank you," Thomas said, shooting a glance at Julian. Julian caught it and his meaning, and nodded very slightly. 

The Hierophant gave a slight smile. "It is my pleasure. I want to see the Devil undone for doing this to our worlds. Whatever you need, I will help in any way I can. Now, let me show you to the guest rooms. Valerius, stay here. We have much to discuss about your hubris." Valerius's face flushed, but he said nothing as the group stood, and followed the Hierophant out of the garden.

Once everyone was in their own quarters, Thomas closed the door to the room he shared with Julian and put his back to it. "Is everything alright?" Julian asked, sounding horrifically worried.

Thomas nodded. "I'm- I'm fine. I just... I need you to be aware that we're not going to be able to get the remaining three courtiers to go along with me unbinding them. It's _going_ to hurt. You can't interfere when I do it."

Julian swallowed thickly, staring at him. "I- I don't relish the thought of you in pain, darling."

"It's necessary, though."

"I know. I know that. I just... I wish there was another way. I don't want to see you hurt. I don't want to hear you screaming like you did when you confronted Valdemar the first time. It hurts _me _to hear that. But I know it’s necessary. I’ll be there to help you through the pain.”

Thomas gave him a little smile. “I was kind of hoping you’d stay behind.”

“Never. I will never leave you to face this alone again.” Julian crossed the distance between them, sweeping Thomas up in a tight embrace, his wings folding around them. Thomas sighed and leaned into the embrace. “Let’s get some rest,” Julian said softly, guiding them to the bed. 


	8. Chapter 8

By the time they were all awake the next day, Valerius was gone. “He wanted to check on Volta,” the Hierophant told them. “Apparently he doesn’t believe she is strong enough to resist efforts to turn her against you. I’m not sure he can protect her, but he’s going to try.”

That got them all to look at each other. “Do you think we should send someone, too?” Asra asked.

Muriel shook his head. “Who would go? None of us want to leave the group. The best way we can help them is deal with the courtiers as quickly as we can. We’re handling Vlastomil next, right?”

“That’s who I would recommend you go for next,” the Hierophant said. “He’s held Justice in thrall for centuries. If you can free Justice like you freed me, they would be a powerful ally indeed.”

“Just our of curiosity,” Asra asked, tail flicking idly, “who did we free when we freed Volta?”

“Temperance.”

Asra snorted, suppressing a cynical laugh. “Of course.”

Mazelinka looked at him in curiosity, then turned her attention to the Hierophant. “There anything we need to know about this Vlastomil fool that we don’t?”

“Only that he will put up a fight. The easy ones were Volta and Valerius. You’re not going to get any cooperation from the remaining three.”

“I think we knew that,” Julian snorted. “Well? Are we ready to go?”

“As ready as we’ll ever be,” Portia said brightly. “I can’t wait to give those courtiers a piece of my mind. They always made my life difficult in the palace.”

Asra smiled at her. “You remember what I taught you last night?”

She nodded eagerly. “I can’t wait to try it out on him.”

“Wait, what? What did you teach her last night?” Julian asked, curious.

“How to simulate sunlight.”

Julian looked at him blankly. “What good will that do?”

“You’ll see. I think we’re ready. Where can we find him?”

“I can send you to Justice’s realm. He will be there. Good luck. Return here when you’ve succeeded.” The Hierophant focused on a point behind them, and they turned to see a portal open up a few feet away.

“Goodness!” Portia exclaimed, and turned back to the Hierophant. “Can I ask a question?”

“Of course.”

“I thought the realms merged. How can you-“

The Hierophant smiled at her. “They did. Such travel would not be so easy before. Space and time are meaningless now. If you wish, I can show you all how to do this- after you’ve defeated Vlastomil, of course.”

“Of course,” Muriel rumbled, shooting Portia an exasperated look. “Let’s get this over with.”

“Yes, let’s.” Mazelinka squared her shoulders and marched right into the portal, the others hurrying to catch up.

They emerged out into what looked like the coliseum. It took Thomas a moment of thought to realize that wasn’t where they were, but it looked just like the coliseum did during Julian’s trial. His stomach twisted painfully at the memory, shooting Julian a look to make sure he was still there. Julian saw it and nodded, striding forward. “Let me subdue him. The rest of you work whatever magic you need to defeat him. I’ll protect you while you work.”

Thomas put a hand on his arm. “No, Julian. We do this together. Don’t put yourself in danger. Let us help you.” Tiredly, Julian nodded, and Thomas wondered if Julian had gotten any sleep at all. They’d be at a disadvantage if Julian was exhausted.

He didn’t have anymore time to worry, though, because Vlastomil- what Thomas assumed to be Vlastomil- slithered into the judge’s box above them. His massive, slimy body undulated as his long neck stretched down to glower at them. “Are you the reason we lost Volta? Of course you are, you nasty troublemakers. Have you come to do the same thing to me, hm?”

“You’re perceptive,” Asra called in a clipped, tense voice. “I’m surprised you care enough to confront us. Don’t you have worms to tend to?”

“Oh, so impertinent!” Vlastomil squealed, then gave a watery, slippery laugh. “I remember you. You were always were unbearably arrogant, magician.” Asra gave a disbelieving laugh and a mocking bow, and Vlastomil snorted. “Don’t trifle with me. I’m older than time and far more powerful than the likes of you. Volta was weak; she never understood the grandness of our plans. She’s the youngest of us four and never understood us, so I will make a deal with you: walk away. Slither back to whatever holes you ran to when the realms merged, and we can forget all of this nasty business, hm?”

“Not on your life,” Thomas snarled, coming to stand between Vlastomil and the others. “We’re not going to let you continue to terrorize Vesuvia like this!”

“_Terrorize? _Is that what you think is going on? No matter. I don’t answer to the likes of you and I’m bored of this. I do have my worms to tend to. Just remember, you chose this yourself!” 

Abruptly, the ground beneath them began trembling violently. Thomas watched in disgusted fascination as hundreds of worms emerged from the sand beneath their feet, teeth gnashing as they smelled flesh and blood. “Portia!” Asra called.

“I’m on it!” Portia yelled back, extending her hands to the sky. The only hint Thomas had that Asra was working in tandem with her, was how he felt Asra’s magic expand out from him, mixing with Portia’s. 

Just as Thomas was about to ask what they were doing, as he kicked a worm about to try to latch onto his booted foot, bright, hot light burst through the clouds overhead, and the temperature rose abruptly, searingly hot. Vlastomil squealed as the worms screamed and began to shrivel up. “Stop it! What are you doing?! Stop it right this instant! You brutes are killing them!”

“That’s the point!” Asra snarled back. It didn’t take long for the unbearable heat to do its deadly work; even Vlastomil looked drier, weaker than he had before the heatwave.

With a frantic shriek, Vlastomil slid out of the judge’s box and rushed at them. A spear of ice appeared in Asra’s hands and he hurled it at the oncoming wyrm; Vlastomil, shockingly more agile than anyone expected, dodged and lunged at Asra. Asra backed away, but too slowly; Vlastomil tackled him and they crashed heavily to the ground, Vlastomil’s hands at Asra’s throat. Asra’s fingers clawed at Vlastomil’s as Julian snarled, “Not today!” and launched himself at the wyrm, claws extended. They raked down Vlastomil’s slimy, pale back, and he reared back, tail lashing at Julian. 

But he released Asra, and, gasping, Asra summoned the spear to his hands again and thrust up. It pierced Vlastomil’s chest. As the wyrm screamed again, Asra managed to shout Thomas’s name. Thomas lunged forward, closing his eyes and focusing his magic. The chains that crisscrossed Vlastomil’s slimy body flared into sharp focus in his mind’s eye, and he reached out and snatched one in his hands, focusing all of his power into them. Vlastomil thrashed, shrieking, and the chains burned white hot, ripping a scream of agony from Thomas. He heard Asra’s panicked voice, Portia and Mazelinka and Muriel yelling something he couldn’t hear.

And above it all, in his ear, soothing, Julian’s voice as he felt talons resting on his shoulders: “Deep breaths, Thomas. You’re okay, you’ve got this, just a little-“

Abruptly, the chains in Thomas’s hands shattered, and he fell back against Julian heavily, gasping frantically, ringing in his ears drowning out everything else. Dark spots flared in his vision, blurring everything...

“-mas?! Thomas! Open your-“

“He’s alright, Asra. This happened before, when we faced Valdemar. Just- just give him a minute.”

Thomas forced his eyes open, looking up into Asra's frantic face. He managed a weak smile. "I'm fine, Asra," Thomas reassured him in a strained voice. "I just need a minute."

Asra leaned forward and hugged him close, his shoulders tense. "What _was_ that?" Asra asked, ears flat against his head. "The way you screamed- it sounded like it was _killing_ you!"

"It wasn't. It's... it's much harder to do when the person who's deals I'm breaking are unwilling."

"Is that going to happen again?"

"Probably. I'm sorry."

Asra cursed, pulling away. "Don't apologize. I'm just sorry you have to put yourself through this. If I could think of any other way at all..."

"There is no other way." Thomas reached back to touch Julian as he laid on his lap; Julian's taloned fingers carefully entwined with Thomas's, and after a moment, he helped him sit up. "What about Vlastomil?"

Asra glanced over his shoulder, and then back at Thomas and Julian. "He's senseless, but he's human again. Mazelinka, Portia, and Muriel are tending to him."

Thomas nodded and moved to stand. Both Julian and Asra moved to stand with him, helping him steady himself. Once he was sure he had his feet underneath him, he walked over to where Vlastomil lay surrounded by the others, groaning and holding his head. Thomas, his temper made short by pain that was still receeding, planted one foot on Vlastomil's chest, close to his throat. Muriel protested, and Asra murmured a reassurance. Thomas's gaze flicked to Muriel and back to Vlastomil. "Where is Vulgora?" he demanded.

Vlastomil seemed to have enough of his wits to answer with a curl of his lip and a sneered, "Why should I tell you?"

"Because I'll kill you if you don't," Thomas ground out at him. 

"Thomas!" Julian exclaimed, horrified. Asra held up a hand calmly, stifling further protests from the others.

"Trust me," Thomas deadpanned, not taking his gaze off Vlastomil.

Vlastomil had gone pale, but his disdainful expression didn't change. "I don't believe you. You mean to tell me that after everything you've been through, _now_ you're going to start killing people? Don't be absurd. If you could, you'd have started long ag-"

Vlastomil's words cut off as Thomas moved his booted foot from Vlastomil's chest to his throat, and stepped. Vlastomil's eyes widened in surprise, then horror, then his expression went frantic as Thomas bore more weight on his throat. "Thomas," Asra said in warning. Thomas glanced at him, but didn't let up. "Thomas!" This time the protest was accompanied by a hand on his shoulder.

Thomas finally let up, and Vlastomil gasped for breath. "You wouldn't go against your friends' wishe-" He choked off as Thomas replaced his foot. 

This time it was Muriel who protested. "Someone stop him!"

Asra and Julian both moved to restrain him, but Thomas let up without either of them touching him. "Still willing to test me?" Thomas demanded harshly. "After what you just put us through, are you really willing to bet your life on it? I'm in pain, I'm tired, and I'm sick of all of this. _Where is Vulgora?_"

Wheezing, Vlastomil said, "They're at the castle. Valdemar is there as well. I suggest you go in the _other_ direction. Even if you get past Vulgora, you'll never get the better of Valdemar."

"I did once before," Thomas said coolly. Then he stepped away from him, putting a hand to his head. "What are we going to do with him?" he asked.

Silence greeted him. Everyone was too stunned by his threat to end Vlastomil's life to speak. Finally, Asra broke the silence. "We can take him back to the Hierophant," he said hesitantly, "but- maybe you ought to stay, there, as well."

Thomas looked up at him sharply. "Why?" Asra gestured to Vlastomil, and Thomas huffed a laugh. "You don't think I'd have really killed him, do you?"

"If you say you wouldn't have, I believe you, but you certainly had me convinced while you were threatening him."

Julian spoke up. "I knew he wouldn't have done that. If you really believed him capable of such things, then maybe you don't know him as well as you thought you did."

Silence. 

Asra considered his next words very carefully. "I know what this new world can do to people. I know what it's doing to _me_. I don't want to see you go down this path."

Thomas looked at him curiously. "You tried to stop me."

"I did that because I still know it was the right thing to do." He gave Vlastomil a disgusted look. "I didn't _want_ to. He and his friends have been responsible for so much suffering."

Silence again.

Finally, Muriel said, "You're not the only one who felt that way, Asra. If Thomas says he's fine to continue, then I believe him. I... I trust him. You use to trust him, too."

Asra closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. "I trust him still. If he says he wasn't seriously considering killing him, I believe him. I still... I don't want him to get hurt. I don't want him to put himself in a position where he issues such an ultimatum and our opponent tells him to go ahead. That's not a position I want him to be in. That's not a position I want _any _of us to be in."

Thomas sighed. "You've got a point. I won't resort to that kind of threat again. Promise."

Asra's shoulders slumped in relief. "Thank you."

Vlastomil had been listening the whole time, disbelief in his expression. "You mean to tell me I was _never_ in danger?"

"We don't do things like that." Thomas knelt beside him. "You're going to the Hierophant's realm. He'll do with you what he sees fit. We're going to go after Vulgora and Valdemar."

"You're making a mistake," Vlastomil spat, trying to sit up. "We're trying to _protect_ Vesuvia!"

"Likely story," Portia snorted. "Who's going with him?"

"I will," Muriel said, looking away. "I... I can't do this. I can't fight them. I was _useless_, I froze up- I'm a liability-"

Asra put a hand on Muriel's shoulder. "You're not a liability," he said softly, "but I can only imagine how stressful that fight was for you."

"I thought he was going to _kill_ you." Muriel's voice was carefully controlled. "I know you have to do what you have to do, but I can't watch it happen."

"That's fine. Someone's got to go back with him anyway. But will you be alright restraining him if he attacks you or tries to get away?"

Vlastomil answered for him. "I won't. I- I don't have any power anymore, thanks to _him_." He jerked his chin in Thomas's direction. "That guy could snap me in half if he wanted to."

Even though he knew Muriel would never do something like that, Asra grinned wolfishly. "Yes, he could. I suggest you don't test him. What about the rest of you? Are you up for going after Vulgora right away?"

"I am," Thomas answered.

Julian put a hand on his shoulder. "You're not. That took so much out of you-"

"It passed quickly. I feel fine. We need to get this done and over with so we can finish this, the sooner the better."

Portia and Mazelinka exchanged a look, both of them looking doubtful. Neither of them contradicted Thomas, though. "Pasha and I barely fought at all," Mazelinka said. "We're fine."

"Alright. Ilya?"

"If Thomas is going, I'm going."

"That doesn't answer the question."

Julian huffed. "I'm fine."

"Alright." Asra turned back to Muriel. "You'll be fine alone with him, right?"

Muriel nodded. "I'll defend myself if I need to. I don't think I'll need to. Be careful. Please be careful."

"We will be," Mazelinka answer, rising to her feet and helping Portia up. "Let's go get the next one."

* * *

The group saw Muriel off, and then Asra guided them out of the realm and back into Vesuvia, where they started the long trek back to the palace. They mostly walked in silence, Julian's hand in Thomas's. Asra led them; it seemed that he had decided he was the leader of their little ragtag group, and none of them cared to contradict him. Thomas was just glad someone else was taking charge. Not for the first time, he wished that he could run away with Julian, just the two of them, back to the Hanged Man's realm, and forget about the rest of the world. But they had made a decisive decision when they agreed to help Asra fight, and even though they were scared, neither would back down from that.

The guards at the palace had changed, and Asra focused his magic on them. Their eyes widened as they looked at each other. "Do you feel that?"

"Yes. Is- is that what Bludmila and Ludovico were talking about?" The guard peered around. "Hello? Can you hear us? Can you- can you talk to us?"

Asra sighed. "You know damn well we can't," he muttered. Regardless, Thomas felt his magic shift ever so slightly, an acknowledgement of their question. The guards looked at each other again, and then the other one opened the gate. "I don't know why you're back, but good luck, whatever you're doing," he said. Without a word, the group moved into the gate, and the guards closed it behind them. 

Once inside, Thomas and Asra stretched out their magic, searching. “I think I can feel Valdemar in the dungeon,” Thomas murmured. 

“You’re sure it’s Valdemar?”

“Relatively sure.”

Asra’s brow furrowed in concentration. “Alright, if that’s Valdemar, then where are _you, _Vulgora?... come out, come out, wherever you- _there_.”

“Did you find them?” Thomas opened his eyes.

Asra did so as well. “I think I did. They’re in a part of the palace I’ve never been in, so we may get a little lost-“

Portia made an exasperated sound. “What are you talking about, Asra? I’ve been everywhere in the palace. Describe it for me, I’ll lead us right to them.”

“I can’t. I know the general direction they’re in, but I- wait. Come here, take my hands.”

“Don’t have to ask me twice,” Portia said coyly, going to him. Asra rolled his eyes, smirking, as she obeyed him. “What exactly are we- _oh_.”

“Mhm. Can you identify-“

“I sure can. Give me a moment.” They waited as Portia frowned in concentration; Thomas could feel her magic expanding out from them, and he guessed that Asra was sharing whatever he was feeling with her. 

After several moments of concentration, they both opened their eyes, looking at each other expectantly. “Well?” Asra prompted. 

“They’re in the barracks. Of course they’re in the barracks.” Portia rolled her eyes. “I can take you right to them. Are we ready?”

“As ready as we’ll ever be,” Julian said. Thomas thought he saw keen interest in his eyes, as his gaze flicked from Portia to Asra and back. Whatever had caught his attention, though, he didn’t say. “Let’s go hunt a courtier.”

Portia led them through the halls of the palace, heading deep into the castle, into areas that Thomas hadn't even known existed. They passed through an archway and then down a set of steps, through a long hallway with light at the end of the tunnel. They emerged into a courtyard, open to the chaotic air. Standing in the center, wooden sword in hand, was Vulgora. They were focused on a wooden dummy, hacking and slashing at it with reckless abandon. They didn't seem to even notice that the group had intruded on their practice.

But they _did_ notice, and slowly turned to them, wiping sweat off their brow. "I was wondering how long it would take you to find me," they said, a vicious grin on their face. "You troublemakers have taken Volta and Vlastomil out of the picture, but surely you know that you'll do no such thing to _me_. But I don't want to be bothered with you, so I'll give you the chance to walk away. Turn around and leave and never come back, and maybe I'll let you live."

"We're not going anywhere," Mazelinka spat. "You're holding the countess hostage, and we're not going to let you do that."

Vulgora shrugged, slashing their sword at them. As they watched, the sword turned to bright, shining steel. "Just remember, you asked for this," they said with a grin, advancing on them. Asra stepped in front of them, summoning his ice spear, as Thomas's magic swirled around his hands, igniting into blue flame. Julian pushed past all of them, and Vulgora stopped, squinting. "I get the feeling I should know you."

"Doctor Devorak, at your service." He gave a mocking, sweeping bow. 

"Ah. I knew you looked familiar. I'll start with you. You were always annoying." With that, they darted forward, sword flashing. Julian sidestepped and struck, claws outstretched. Vulgora barely jerked back as Julian's claws whistled inches past their face. They tut'ed and parried a strike from Asra, before turning their attention back to Julian. Thomas lunged forward, flaming hands arching towards the pontifex. Vulgora twisted away. "Hey, three on one is hardly fair!"

Portia and Mazelinka flanked them, magic crackling between them. "Five on one," Mazelinka snarled, stretching out a hand. Lightning streaked from her fingers, and Vulgora yelped and rolled away.

Thomas stared at her, jaw slack. "When did you-"

"You think I've only been teaching Portia?" Asra answered him with a smirk. 

"I didn't know you knew how to use magic to fight!"

"You know now." By then, Vulgora had recovered, and looked wildly from one of them to the other. "Give up yet, pontifex?" Asra taunted.

Vulgora scowled. "Fight me one on one like true warriors."

"No." Asra advanced again, spear held defensively before him as Julian stalked forward as well. Vulgora's eyes darted from one of them to the other; Thomas could see the gears in their head turning. They backed up a step, lips pressed tightly in an angry line, sword held defensively in front of them. "Make this easy on yourself. Let Thomas unbind you and you don't need to suffer the humiliation of being beaten in combat." Asra's voice had a mocking quality to it, and Thomas cringed. He got the distinct feeling that mocking them wasn't the way to get them to cooperate- if there was any way to get them to cooperate at all.

Vulgora seemed to make a decision then, their gaze steeling as they set their shoulders and shifted their stance. They smirked and then lurched towards them, sword arcing towards Asra. Asra, startled, parried the blow, then found himself fighting them off desperately. Julian's claws raked down Vulgora's back, and Vulgora snarled and stretched a hand out to him. Raw power shot from their palm and struck Julian in the chest, throwing him back as it dissapated over his feathered body. Thomas yelped his name and ran to him as he rolled to a stop on the ground, face down, wings limp around him. Portia yelled "Ilya!" and followed, kneeling beside them as Mazelinka dashed forward to try to help Asra.

Julian picked himself up with a groan, Portia and Thomas's hands on him to steady him. "Since when do you know magic?!" Asra gasped, desperately parrying Vulgora's attacks.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" they retorted cheerily. "Since when do _you_ know how to fight?! Oh-" They dropped and swept their leg out, knocking Asra off his feet. "You don't!" they cackled, leveling their sword at Asra's throat. 

Thomas, Julian, and Portia watched in horror as Mazelinka raised a hand, power coalescing in her palm, and Vulgora tut'ed again, lowering their blade closer to Asra's neck. "I don't care if he lives or dies," they scoffed, "so if _you_ care, I suggest you _back off_." Mazelinka scowled but lowered her hand, and Vulgora looked down at Asra as he glared up at them, scowling. "Now, what am I going to do with you, little magician?" they crooned, glancing at the others. "It seems that you're the leader of this little band of misfits. I wonder how they'll do without you."

"No!" Thomas cried, standing. "Don't hurt him!" 

"Behave and I won't. _Much_." With that, they drew back their foot and kicked Asra's head, hard. Thomas cringed at the impact. "I think I'll take him for insurance. If I sense even an _inkling_ that you're going after me or Valdemar, I'll kill him. It's up to you if you want to test me." With that, their magic shimmered over them and Asra's unconscious form, and vanished.

Thomas ran to where they had been, heart pounding, extending his magic, trying to sense Asra. "He's gone," he cried frantically, turning back to the others. "We have to find him! We have to save him! We have to-"

"You have to calm down, lad," Mazelinka said softly, laying a hand on his arm. "_Think_. Even if we knew where they took him, if we barged in on them so quickly, they wouldn't hesitate to make good on their threat to kill him. We need to do this right- calmly. Deep breaths, now. We need you to keep your head."

Thomas took a deep breath, another, and a third as Portia and Julian approached him. Forcing the panic back, they reached out again, searching, and this time he felt the pull, faint, but it was there, the pull towards Asra that he'd had for as long as he could remember. A vague thought to ask Asra about it when they found and rescued him flitted in and out of Thomas's mind. "I think- I think they took him to the Tower," Thomas said finally. 

"Can you take us there?" Julian asked, concern etched on his face.

After a moment of thought, Thomas shook his head. "Not without alerting Vulgora. We should go back to the Hierophant. He can help us. I know he can. He _has_ to be able to. We can't leave Asra with them."

"You're right, we can't," Julian answered, a shiver running through him. "Alright. Can you take us back to the Hierophant, then?"

Thomas nodded. "I think I can. Everyone grab hold of me, and hold on."

* * *

The first thing Asra was aware of was pain, piercing pain in his head that nauseated him. Fear mixed with overwhelming confusion swept over him, and he opened his eyes cautiously, unsure of what he would see when he did so. Dizziness made his surroundings swim in his vision, and he swallowed back the urge to retch as he looked around. He was on a landing of a staircase; dragging himself to his knees, he went to the edge, and looked up. It extended into infinity, as far as he could see. He backed away again, not wanting- nor needing- to look down. He knew where he was.

But how had he gotten to the Tower, of all places?

Moving had exhausted him, and he set his back to the wall and slumped over, hands going to his aching head. His temple was tender to the touch, and he imagined that he'd see quite a bruise there, if he had a mirror. So he'd hit his head on something. That would explain the headache, nausea, and tenderness. It still didn't explain what he was doing here.

"Oh, good. You're finally awake. I was afraid I'd actually damaged you." 

Asra looked up sharply, exhaling. "Vulgora," he snarled, memory returning to him. "Where are my friends?"

"Assuming they both care about you and are intelligent, they're _not_ coming for you," Vulgora replied. There was a thoughtful lilt to their voice. "I have no doubt they care about you. Your little apprentice was frantic when I took you. Not sure about intelligent, though." They gave him a toothy grin. "And that's a problem, isn't it? I really don't feel like killing you. I never liked you but even I know enough about magic to know that you're _powerful_. You'd be quite the asset to me, I think."

"If you think I would _ever_ work for you, you're dumber than you think my friends are."

"I don't think you'd ever _willingly_ work for me." Vulgora gave a thoughtful hum. "But there are ways to compel your cooperation, as I'm sure you know."

Asra sneered, "You don't know enough about magic to ever _compel_ me to do anything."

"Wanna make a bet of it?" Vulgora squated before him, hand extended. "If you're right, and I can't do this, I'll let little Thomas unbind me from the Devil's power. If _I'm_ right- well." Their grin widened. "You won't have much say in the matter, will you?" Asra kept his gaze locked on Vulgora's eyes, refusing to look at the magic gathering in their palm. Vulgora's free hand shot out, gripping Asra's chin in their cruel claws as they brought the ball of magic closer and closer. He could feel their magic washing over him, whispering to him, _convincing _him. His eyes widened in horror as he realized, with the last of his willpower, that Vulgora was more powerful than he ever dreamed they could be. He fought to hold on, to keep a grip on his will, but slowly, surely, he felt it slipping away.

Until he felt nothing at all.


	9. Chapter 9

The Hierophant listened to their tale, his expression neutral. When they had finished, he shook his head. "I told you to come back to me once you'd defeated Vlastomil. If you had, we'd have been able to strategize your next step. I'm not sure where you should go from here."

They looked at each other uneasily. Muriel was the one who spoke. "You can't leave him with Vulgora. He was trusting you to have his back, and you let him get captured. You have to go after him."

"We know that," Julian said flatly. "But we don't know how to do it without alerting Vulgora to the fact that we're there. If we do that, they'll kill him. You don't want them to kill him, do you?"

Muriel frowned sharply, and the Hierophant put a hand on his shoulder. "They're right. Vulgora and Valdemar are the most ruthless of the courtiers, the most bloodthirsty. I do believe Asra is safe so long as you don't startle them, but they have to do this so that they _aren't_ startled if you want him back alive." 

"Alright," Mazelinka said, determination in her eyes, "how do we do that?"

"I can send you there without alerting Vulgora, but be aware that if they kicked him hard enough to knock him out, as you say, he will be injured and likely unable to defend himself. You need to be prepared to defend him when you make Vulgora aware that you're there."

They all exchanged looks. Portia said, "Alright, here's the plan. We find Asra and Vulgora, hopefully not together. If they _are_ together, I'll get to him and defend him while you three take down Vulgora."

"We couldn't take down Vulgora with five of us," Julian protested. "What makes you think we'll be able to take down Vulgora with three?"

She pressed her lips together and shook her head. "Don't do this now, Ilya. We need you."

"It's a fair point!"

"We'll deal with that when we come to it," Mazelinka said firmly. "At least part of it was that they surprised us with magic. Now that we know they can- but _how?_" Mazelinka turned to the Hierophant, gaze flicking between him, Portia, and Julian. "You all implied that Vulgora wasn't able to use magic before. What happened? How'd they get so powerful?"

"My best guess is that they're draining power from the Tower, as Valerius was- unwittingly- draining power from me," the Hierophant answered. "Either that, or the Devil is giving them more power."

"I don't think that's it," Thomas said hesitantly. "Remember, Vlastomil said they're trying to protect Vesuvia."

All of them stared at him like he'd lost his mind. "And you believe him?" Muriel asked, trying to sound neutral and failing.

"I don't know, but I don't think he was _lying_. What purpose would he have to lie like that? We'd already taken him down. There was no convincing us not to fight him anymore, it was over."

Thomas's words hung in the air like a death toll. "We can't consider that he was telling the truth," the Hierophant said finally. "If they _are_ trying to protect Vesuvia, they're going about it the wrong way, and they're not going to listen to reason. You _have to_ do this to free the city. Releasing them from their deals with the Devil will also weaken him and give you a better shot at success. This is what you have to do."

"I- I know that. I'm just saying, that if they think they're protecting Vesuvia, then they're not getting their power from the Devil anymore. What else would they need to protect the city from? None of the other Arcana wanted this. None of the other Arcana would interfere with the human world the way the Devil did."

"That's actually a comforting thought," Julian mused. "It means that they might not be as powerful as we assumed before."

"Don't be so sure," the Hierophant cautioned. "The Tower is plenty powerful. Magicians have gotten trapped in the Tower for years." He considered his own words, then said, "That said, do you need to rest before you go? You might find that things are more difficult to handle when you're exhausted."

Thomas and Julian looked at each other. "We've been to the Tower before," Julian said, "and we got out with relative ease. I think we can handle it."

"As you wish. I understand you're eager to get your friend back, so I won't try to convince you otherwise. Good luck."

With that, the Hierophant gestured, and a portal opened up. They took stock of themselves, and Thomas led the way through the portal, holding his breath, expecting to see the long, infinite staircase of the Tower. Instead, they walked out onto the beach of-"The Lazaret?" Julian murmured, as Portia and Mazelinka followed.

"The quarantine island for victims of the plague?" Thomas looked around, eyes wide. "Why would we be here?"

"I don't know. You're the magician."

Thomas took a few tentative steps out onto the ashen beach, looking around. The wind gusted past them, throwing sand and ash into their faces. "We have to do something here," Thomas murmured, "but _what?_"

They were all quiet for several moments before Julian spoke. "Well, we're not accomplishing that by standing around. Let's go see what we can see. Stay behind me, I'll scare off anything that threatens us."

Mazelinka gave a snort, but filed in behind him nonetheless. Portia was less gracious. "Ilya, you haven't scared off a single thing so far."

"Yes, he has," Thomas contradicted her quietly. "We were together for a while before catching up to Asra, and his size kept us safe from a number of monsters who didn't want to risk him being as fierce as he looks." He smiled. "But we all know how soft he actually is. I don't think we'd have stood a chance if any of those creatures decided to attack us."

Julian slung an arm around Thomas's shoulders. "That's what you're for," he informed him jokingly, bending to kiss his cheek. "I'm the brains of the operation, you're the brawn."

Thomas said nothing, just shaking his head as his shoulders shook with suppressed laughter.

They led the women deeper into the island, to the building. All the mirth was gone from Thomas's demeanor as they looked on the dark, shadowy ward. "I feel drawn to this place," he murmured, gaze sweeping over the door.

"That makes sense," Julian said softly, "if you died of the plague, you probably spent your last days here. Well, not _here_\- this isn't really the Lazaret, is it?"

"No." Thomas swallowed hard. "Be on your guard. Vulgora could be anywhere. But I am certain that we have to go in there." No one said anything; Thomas took the silence as assent, reached out, and pushed the door open.

As they filed into the building, Thomas's eyes adjusted to the darkness as his gaze swept the low gallery. Rows of iron bedframes stood silently awaiting patients. Thomas closed his eyes and probed the area with his magic, cautiously searching for any sign of Asra. His eyes flew open with a gasp. "Someone's here," he said in a low voice, "and it isn't Asra or Vulgora."

"Who?" Portia asked.

"I- I don't know. Their energy is familiar, but I can't place it." He shook his head. "Be careful, guys. I wasn't expecting to encounter anyone but Vulgora and Asra. I don't know who this is or what they're doing here."

They all nodded or murmured their agreement, and they moved cautiously into the gallery, listening intently for any sound, any indication that they weren't alone. Thomas kept his focus on that foreign energy, still trying to place it. It was familiar, painfully familiar, and sent a lance of alarm through him with every second. Every nerve in his body screamed at him that he needed to be wary of this stranger.

They moved from room to endless room, on high alert. Finally, as they passed through what looked like a mortuary, Thomas saw something flit out of the room on the other side, the hem of a white and red cape. "They're over there," Thomas said, pointing. "What do we do about it? I think they're avoiding us."

"If they're avoiding us, do we need to do anything at all?" Julian asked. "Can't we just... turn our attention to finding Asra?"

"That's not a good idea," Mazelinka scoffed. "We don't know who this person is or what they want, and you want us to turn our backs to them?"

"Good point."

"I'm gonna go see who they are."

"Pasha, no!" Julian made a grab for her, but she had already darted away from the group, crouched low to the ground, moving carefully. Thomas ran a hand down his face and gestured for them to follow her. 

Portia peeked around the doorframe, and gasped out loud, then clamped a hand over her mouth and turned back to them, shaking her head wildly. They reached her, and Thomas whispered, "What? Who is it?"

"Count Lucio."

"What- what is _he_ doing here?" Julian scowled, straightening. "And why is he running from us?"

"I don't know-"

Abruptly, Lucio's voice rang out through the room, indignant. "I can _hear_ you! You think I'm _running_ from you? Please! I'm trying to-!"

Thomas's patience abruptly ran out, and he darted through the doorway, ignoring how Julian made a grab for him, groaning in dismay when he missed. Lucio stood at the other end of another gallery, arms crossed over his chest, distinctly lacking the goat-like appearance he'd had before. "What are you _trying_ to do, then, Lucio?" he spat. "What are you doing here?"

"Same as you." He scowled. "I'm looking for Asra."

"Why the f-"

"_Mazelinka._" Thomas's voice left no room for argument, and she glared, but turned it back to Lucio with narrowed eyes. "Why would _you_ be looking for Asra? You mean you don't already know where he is?"

Lucio scowled. "I don't, no. When that idiot Jules made his deal with the Devil to get my body-"

"_My_ body!"

"_Mine! _When he made the deal to give the body back to you, the Devil decided that I was worthless to him and trapped me here. I felt Asra's presence awhile ago. He and I go way back, you know, and I knew it couldn't be a good thing for him if he was here alone. I thought maybe we could team up."

Thomas narrowed his eyes at Lucio. "He hates you, you know."

"He does not." The words were almost a whine. "And I'm on _his_ side now, anyway, surely he'd see that even if he _does_ hate me." 

The group stared him down, staring back at them. Interest flickered in his eyes as he took in the ragtag group. "The birdman is new, though. Where'd you pick him up?"

"I'm Julian," Julian ground out.

For the first time, Lucio looked surprised, and then put out and then- pitying? "What did the Devil _do_ to you?" he murmured.

Julian drew himself up to his full height. "I tried to fight back," he said proudly. "You're going to be shocked by how Asra looks. Maybe not as badly as now, but he's changed, too."

A sneer flickered on Lucio's face for a brief moment before it passed. "_Asra_ has been fighting back? I expected him to run. He's always been a coward."

"He has not!" Julian snapped. "The fact that we're fighting back at all anymore was Asra's idea. He's _never_ been a coward. You just never understood him."

Much to Thomas's surprise, Lucio looked thoughtful. "Can you blame me?" he asked with a wry smile. "He played up that 'mysterious magician' thing to an obnoxious level. _You_ vented to me more than once that you didn't understand him either, Jules."

"I understand him now," Julian retorted, "and we don't have the time to argue with you. He was hurt when Vulgora took him. We have to find him. If you're done, we'll be going now-"

"I'm going with you."

"Pardon?" Julian's voice cracked, and his eyes narrowed. Thomas could swear he saw him puffing up the way he did when he wanted to scare something away. "I don't think we ever gave you that choice, Lucio."

"I've been here since the beginning," he retorted. "And I _know_ Vulgora. I can help you. If he was hurt, then we need to find him fast. There's no telling what Vulgora would do. I can't make you take me with you but I suggest you do- because I'm going with you whether you like it or not. We can do this the easy way or the hard way. It's up to you."

The group looked at each other, at a loss for words. None of them wanted Lucio to come with them, but they couldn't exactly stop him. "Fine," Thomas said finally, "but be aware that we trust you about as much as we trust Vulgora. If you're really on our side, you're going to have to prove it."

Lucio gave them what would be a dashing grin, in other circumstances. "Challenge accepted," he crooned, jerking his head to the exit of the room. "Come on, I thought I felt him this way."

They followed him out of the room, and out onto the beach. Lucio led them away from the water, into the woods surrounding the building. "So I assume that you have a plan of some sort," he said, trying to sound conversational. "You don't think that Vulgora will just hand Asra over to you if you find them."

Thomas glared at him. "Didn't I just say I didn't trust you?" he snapped. "You think I'm going to tell you how we're going to get him back?"

Lucio held up his hands defensively. "Hey, wait, didn't you say you'd give me a chance to prove that I'm on your side?"

"Technically, he didn't," Portia piped up. "He said that _you_ are going to have to prove it. He said nothing about giving you a chance to do so." Thomas almost started laughing at the way Lucio pouted, but was able to restrain himself from it, and had the good grace to look away while Lucio tried to think of a retort. None was forthcoming, and Thomas smiled a little, wicked grin to himself, making a mental note to give Portia a high-five for rendering the obnoxious count speechless.

Lucio made no further attempts at conversation after that, leading them through the foliage in silence. Ahead, Thomas could see a clearing, and Lucio threw out an arm. His demeanor shifted to something serious. "Do you feel that, magician?" he whispered.

Thomas assumed Lucio was addressing him and focused his magic. Finally, he nodded. "I- I do. Asra's here, but- but-"

Lucio turned to him fully. "You do know him better than I do. Are you sure it's him?"

"Why? Mazelinka prompted quietly. "What's the deal?"

Thomas shook his head. "It's Asra, but he's- he's _blank_. I don’t feel anything from him but that he’s there.” He took a deep breath, closing his eyes and diving back into his magic. “Vulgora is there, too.”

Lucio nodded grimly, hand loosening a sword at his hip that Thomas noticed just then. His blood ran cold; had Lucio been so armed the entire time? “You might want to tell me what you have planned,” he whispered. “So I can cover you when you try.”

Thomas regarded him thoughtfully. Finally, he said, “I need to get close to Vulgora. Can you help the others distract them so I can?” A look of annoyance crossed Lucio’s handsome features, but it smoothed into a cocky grin. “Just leave it to me. Let’s go put them in their place.”

Thomas nodded, and motioned for the others to follow them into the clearing. Vulgora stood up as they approached, Asra standing passively beside them. Asra turned to face them as well, and Thomas’s stomach dropped as he looked into Asra’s eyes: glassy, clouded, emotionless. Dead. “Asra,” he gasped. Asra didn’t respond, didn’t even blink. “What did you do to him, Vulgora?!” Thomas demanded.

“Oh, him?” Vulgora have a toothy grin. “He’s working for me now. Aren’t you, magician?” Asra remained silent, and Vulgora shook their head. “Still the quiet mysterious type, though. Hello, traitor.”

Lucio scowled. “Who’s the traitor?” he demanded. “You and your owner abandoned me _long_ before I made the decision to cooperate with them. Now answer the question, pontifex. What did you do to him?”

“Just some minor brainwashing.” Vulgora shrugged. “He fought me valiantly, but he wasn’t strong enough, what with the head injury and all.” They tilted their head to the side. “I did say I would kill him if you came after us. Maybe I’ll make you do the honors for me. Asra!” Beside them, Asra’s body stiffened, and there was a flicker of some emotion Thomas couldn’t identify in his violet eyes. “Kill them!”

Asra leapt into action immediately, his ice spear forming in his hands as he lunged for them. “Asra, no!” Julian cried. Asra ignored him, slashing hard at Lucio. Lucio grunted and hastily drew his sword, barely blocking the strike. “Don’t hurt him!” 

“Don’t hurt him?!” Lucio retorted, dancing away from another blow. “What about me?!”

“Just keep him distracted!” Thomas shouted, summoning fire to his hands and lunging for Vulgora. Portia turned her attention to Asra and Lucio, and Thomas felt her magic washing over them, trying to pry Vulgora’s grip over Asra away from him. 

Vulgora didn’t give Thomas time to wonder if Portia would be successful. They raised a hand and a wave of power emanated from them, striking Thomas in the chest. He tumbled backwards, landing hard on his back, knocking the breath out of him. Vulgora rushed at him, cackling to themself. Thomas tried to roll away, but Vulgora was too fast. 

The sound of Julian screaming filled Thomas’s ears, and Julian tackled Vulgora out of Thomas’s line of vision. “Get off, you stupid bird!” Vulgora snarled, gauntlets clawing at Julian’s feathers. Mazelinka knelt next to Thomas, hastily helping him back to his feet and away from Julian and Vulgora. 

“Julian!” Thomas shouted, summoning the fire to his hands once more. “Get away from them!” 

Julian raked his claws down the side of Vulgora’s face, and they hissed in pain and anger, reflexively releasing their hold on him to grasp at their wounded and bleeding face. “You’re going to pay for that,” they snarled as Julian scrambled away. Mazelinka raised a hand and pointed at the pontifex, lightning sparking from her fingertips, arcing towards them. The bolt connected with their chest and sparked out over their body. Vulgora’s limbs jerked as the electricity coursed through them, dropping to one knee. Thomas lurched forward, aiming a punch at Vulgora’s face. They threw up a shield around them, and Thomas struck the barrier and was thrown back into Mazelinka. The pair tumbled to the ground in a heap. 

Meanwhile, Asra was meeting Lucio blow for blow, and Lucio was beginning to panic. “How did you get so good at fighting?!” he demanded, parrying another strike from Asra’s spear. “Can’t you see that I’m not fighting back? Damnit, Asra! Portia!” Lucio barked. “Haven’t you figured out how to undo their spell yet?!” 

“Obviously not!” Portia hollered back, frustration blooming in every nerve in her body. “It’s almost like there’s no spell at all!”

As she spoke, she saw Asra turn his head, ever so slightly, glancing at her from the corner of his eye. She gasped in understanding, as Lucio spat, “Right. I’m just going to take him down then!”

“No!” she screamed. “Don’t you dare hurt-“

“I’m not going to-“ His words cut off in a grunt, as he crossed weapons with Asra once more. “Okay, that’s enough!” Lucio snarled. He twisted his sword, the flat of the blade arching towards Asra’s head. 

Portia screamed a warning. Whether it was intended for Asra, or for Lucio, she wasn’t sure. All she knew was that she did not want Lucio to strike him in the head, not after the kick that had knocked him out. Regardless of who Portia was shouting at, Lucio heard her and reversed his stroke, reaching out and grabbing Asra’s wrist and yanking him forward. Asra stumbled towards him and Lucio, not letting go, twisted around to his back and yanked his hand up, forcing Asra to release the spear. It fell heavily to the ground as Lucio kicked the back of Asra’s knee, driving him to the forest floor. He fell on top of him with a heavy “oof!” knee planted firmly against Asra’s back, one hand twisted behind it. 

They laid there on the ground, their breathing harsh. Portia saw Asra go limp, as if in defeat, saw his eyes close. Then he took a deep breath, and the warning was on the tip of Portia’s tongue, but not fast enough. A burst of magic threw Lucio off of him, and he scrambled to his feet, hand closing over the ice spear once more. Lucio groaned and rolled over onto his back, fighting to get himself upright, and then he froze, staring up into Asra’s blank, dull eyes. “Buddy,” Lucio breathed, with a wavering, fearful smile. “It’s me! Lucio! We’re pals, aren’t we? You wouldn’t hurt-“ Asra took a step closer, and the wavering smile fled Lucio’s face. “Portia!” he cried.

Portia’s gaze flicked from Asra to Lucio and back, the gears in her head turning. “Asra,” she said in a shaking voice, “Lucio is a friend. He’s on our side. You don’t have to- Asra- _no!_”

Asra raised his spear, pointed down at Lucio’s heart. He gulped and cringed away, and then, suddenly, Asra’s violet eyes cleared, and he smirked. “Wha-?” 

Without giving Lucio time to get the confused protest out, Asra turned on his heel and ran at Vulgora, spear leveled at their chest. Vulgora, attention on Thomas, Julian, and Mazelinka, didn’t see Asra until he was on them, thrusting the spear forward with a guttural cry. The tip of it found its target as Asra drove the spear deep into Vulgora’s chest. “Thomas!” he screamed. _“Do it, now!”_

Thomas didn’t pause to question this turn of events, instead launching himself at Vulgora, magic flaring, hands outstretched. The chains wrapped so tightly around Vulgora’s body flared to life as he grabbed them, pouring his magic into them. Vulgora and Thomas screamed together, theirs of rage, his of pain. 

The chains shattered in a flash of light, throwing Thomas, Asra, and Vulgora in three different directions. Thomas groaned and rolled over onto his hands and knees; Julian’s hands on his back soothed him, and he leaned over into Julian’s touch as he took in the scene before him.

Lucio and Portia knelt beside Asra, Who was dragging himself onto his hands and knees as well. “We are not _pals,_” Asra managed to groan. “Thomas, are you alright?”

“We should be asking you that,” Mazelinka said warmly. “That was a fancy bit of actin’. That’s supposed to be Ilya’s hidden talent. You had me convinced, at least.”

Asra snorted. “Portia figured it out. Thank you for not ruining my plan, by the way.”

“I only figured it out because I was trying to undo hypnosis that wasn’t there,” Portia retorted. “I wasn’t sure. Don’t scare us like that again, got it?”

“Yes ma’am.” He looked at Lucio. “What the hell are you doing with him, though?”

“The Devil stabbed me in the back,” Lucio informed him coldly. “It’s payback time.”

“You’re not coming with us.”

“Oh? I don’t think that’s yours to declare, Asra. Isn’t your precious little Thomas the one in charge?”

Asra’s face twisted into an ugly smile, his tail flicking restlessly behind him. “Well, Thomas? Is he coming with us, or not?”

Thomas brushed his pants off and got to his feet, walking over to them. “I don’t think so,” he said finally. 

Lucio frowned sharply. “Are you kidding me? After I fought Asra for you- alone, I might add-“

“And I’m grateful for your help, but didn’t you say you were trapped here?” Thomas tilted his head to the side, regarding him. “And one good dead doesn’t change all the evil you did. You want to help us? I’ve got a task for you.”

Interest flashed in Lucio’s eyes. “Yes? How can I help?” 

“We’re bringing the courtiers to the Hierophant as we unbind them. Muriel is helping to watch them, but with Vulgora, he’s outnumbered.”

“What about Volta and Valerius?”

“On our side, but Valerius is watching over Volta, last we heard.” Thomas paused for a moment. “What do you say? Help us by making sure the courtiers can’t cause more problems.”

Grudgingly, Lucio nodded. “On one condition.”

Asra made an incredulous noise, and Thomas held up his hand for silence. Asra bit back his protest, and when Lucio was certain he wouldn’t be interrupted again, he said, “So you can unbind people from the Devil’s power? Unbind me, and I’ll do anything you say.”

Thomas’s gaze shifted to Asra. “Well?”

“I’m not sure about this,” Asra replied, his voice halting. There was more to his hesitance than mere dislike. “We know that the courtiers are so powerful because of their deals with the Devil. What if we actually do need Lucio? That’s the same reason you’re not unbinding Ilya.”

Lucio scoffed. “Just Jules? But that is an interesting question. Why don’t you want to be unbound, Asra?”

Impatiently, Asra answered, “My deal was for Thomas’s life. You’d know that, if you were even a little bit smarter.” To Thomas, he said, “It’s up to you. The courtiers are normal humans now- nothing he and Muriel shouldn’t be able to handle together. But-“

“Unbind me and I’ll tell Asra where his parents are.” 

Instantly, all eyes snapped to Lucio. “_What?_” Asra breathed. 

Lucio nodded to him. “I lied when I told you that I’d executed them. I only meant to make you fear me, to make you obey me. The Devil wanted them, so the Devil got them. Let Thomas unbind me and I’ll help you get them back.”

“You’re lying.” Asra’s voice shook. 

“I swear to you that I’m not. Look, unbinding me takes away my power. I’m not scheming to hurt you or anything. Just do this for me, and I’ll be on your side through the rest of whatever this is. What do you say? We have a deal,”

Horrible silence answered him, for several seconds. Vulgora, knocked senseless by the unbinding, gathered themself enough to speak. “You might as well,” they sneered. “He’s not getting out of the Tower otherwise.”

“So that’s why you want this done,” Thomas murmured. And then he nodded. “Alright. I’ll do it. Close your eyes- this may sting a little...”


	10. Chapter 10

It took some doing, but the group eventually found their way back to the Hierophant’s realm, Vulgora in tow. Asra dashed to Muriel’s side as his gaze fell on Lucio, and barely-contained, angry fear crossed his features. “What is _he_ doing here?” Muriel demanded.

Before any of them could answer, Lucio spoke up, a cocky grin on his face. “Marion! So good to see you alive and-“

“My name is Muriel!”

“What exactly is a name, anyway? No matter. I’m glad to see you alive and well in this strange world- not that I thought the Scourge could be taken down by a little thing like the end of the world.”

Scowling, Muriel turned his gaze to Asra. “Tell me he’s not working with us.”

“He is. No, Muriel- _listen-_ we’re lucky he was there. He gave me the distraction I needed to free myself from Vulgora.”

Portia’s eyebrows went up. “You mean you _were _enthralled?”

“I wasn’t. But Vulgora thought I was. I had to wait until they were sufficiently distracted to reveal that. Lucio’s presence gave me someone to focus on who I knew I wouldn’t accidentally hurt. If not for him, I’d have had to fight someone I actually cared about.”

Muriel’s expression softened. “You’re alright, though?”

“I’m fine. A bit sore- Lucio took me down at one point but it’s not like he knew I was acting.” At Muriel’s returned scowl at Lucio, Asra put a hand on his arm. “He didn’t hurt me, Muriel. He went out of his way to avoid hurting me. He’s not a danger to us.”

“You know better than that, Asra. He’s always a threat.”

Lucio’s grin broadened. “Oh yeah, I’m dangerous, and I’m ready to unleash that danger on the Devil. Just tell me when and where and-“

“Here’s the thing,” Thomas cut him off. “We need you to stay here-“ 

“What?! I finally got out of that nasty place and-“

“Absolutely not! If he’s staying here, I’m not!”

“What is that supposed to mean?!”

“Listen!” Asra said over them. “We need two people here to guard Vlastomil and Vulgora, and we’re going need them even more once we capture Valdemar, and-“

“Then you stay with me!” Muriel said, an edge of desperation in his voice that startled everyone. “Don’t leave me alone with him, Asra!”

“I won’t,” Asra said soothingly, stroking his arm and turning his gaze to the Hierophant. “We could really use your input here, Hierophant.”

The Hierophant made a face. “I’m not eager for him to be here, either. But we do need assistance in guarding the courtiers.” The Hierophant tilted his head slightly. “I was told you were injured when Vulgora took you. How is that?”

“I have a headache, but it’s nothing I can’t-“

Julian cut him off. “Will you please let me examine you, Asra?”

“I’m fine-“

“You were kicked hard enough to knock you out and now you’re saying you have a headache. I think you have a concussion. If you do, you shouldn’t be doing anything but resting.”

“I don’t have that luxury, Ilya.” His voice was flat and disbelieving. 

“He’s right,” Mazelinka said. “We can’t have you getting hurt worse. You should stay and-“

“And if Vulgora and Vlastomil attempt to break out?” the Hierophant cut her off, shaking his head. “We’ll have a pacifist and an injured person attempting to prevent it. I don’t think Asra should go after Valdemar in the condition he’s in, but he isn’t enough to keep control of them. Here is my suggestion: I can recruit Justice, Temperance, and Death to help Muriel and I keep an eye on the courtiers, and Asra can rest while the rest of you go after Valdemar.”

Asra ran a restless hand through his hair. “I can’t just do nothing while the rest of you are risking your lives. I have to go with.”

“Or,” Lucio interrupted, “you can help me make good on my promise to rescue your parents.”

Asra’s eyes widened ever so slightly. “Will that be dangerous?” Portia asked.

“Dunno. I don’t think it will be, but you could use two more magicians, couldn’t you? Powerful ones, too, if I’m remembering correctly. Almost as powerful as Asra.”

Thomas nodded. “We could use that kind of help, but we’re so close to freeing Vesuvia now. I don’t want to put that off.”

“Then don’t.” Lucio shrugged. “Go after Valdemar and we’ll meet you at the palace.” Lucio’s gaze flicked over to Asra. “Well? That enough action for you?”

Asra nodded slowly. “If we can knock two birds out with one stone here, that would be best. I don’t remember much of my parents but if they’re willing to help-“

“They will be, if you’re the one doing the asking.” He gave him a wry grin. “I’ve got an image to maintain, yeah? Besides, they can’t say no to their little one. The way they went on and on about your every action, every day- it was kind of disgusting.”

“How about you go with them to get Valdemar and I go get my parents myself?” Asra asked through a tight smile.

“You don’t know where they are. You need me.” Lucio smirked, looking back over the group. “Don’t worry about him. I’ll make sure nothing hits him in the head. You just go on ahead and try not to let Valdemar kill you.”

“No one’s going anywhere yet,” Thomas said firmly. “We need to wait for the other Arcana, at least, and we all need rest. Yes, Asra, even you. You most of all.”

“I was actually going to say that you’re right. I want to put protections on you all, and I can’t do that if I can barely think straight. I don’t relish the idea of giving Valdemar time to prepare, but I don’t think we stand a chance in the condition you’re all in.”

“I agree with Asra,” the Hierophant said. “Go on to your rooms and rest. I’ll make sure the courtiers behave themselves until my backup gets here.”

The party was all too happy to obey, heading deep into the Hierophant’s manor to the rooms they’d occupied before. As Thomas and Julian came to theirs, Thomas closed the door behind them, leaning against it. “I’m proud of you, Julian,” Thomas said quietly.

“Oh?” Julian sat down on their bed, looking curious. “What for?”

“You’re not trying to sacrifice yourself for the group. You’re part of our team, and you’re acting like it. I was worried that you’d put yourself in danger, thinking you needed to protect us, and you haven’t done that. Thank you.”

Color touched Julian’s face. “Yes, well, I learned my lesson,” he said, watching with interest as Thomas sauntered over to him. “I only paid for my inability to learn it before with my humanity. I see that look in your eyes. What’re you up to, Thomas?”

Thomas made a soft humming sound, sitting down on the bed beside him. “I just think it’s a good idea to reward behavior you want to see continue. Don’t you?”

A slow grin appeared on Julian’s face. “A reward, huh? What kind of-“ 

His voice cut off in a shiver as Thomas ran a hand up Julian’s feathery thigh with one hand, cupping his cheek with the other. “How about I show you?” Thomas murmured, leaning up to kiss Julian, slow, languid, and full of passion and promise. 

“Oh, I like the sound of that,” Julian murmured against Thomas’s lips, and kissed him again, pulling him onto his lap. They moved together, pulling each other closer.

Abruptly, Julian pulled away. Thomas said his name questioningly, and he shook his head. “I just- I can’t believe you still want me. I’m a monster-“

“Of course I still want you. I fell in love with _you, _not what you look like. I would love you no matter what form you take. But if you really want to look the way you used to, I could always unbind-“

“No, you can’t.” Julian sighed. “I’m stronger like this. I wouldn’t have been half as useful in the fight against Vulgora if I was human again.”

“You’re just going to have to let me love you as you are, then.” Thomas leaned forward and kissed him tenderly. “Please, I want you. I never stopped wanting you. I never stopped _loving _you. Let me. Please...”

At that, Julian leaned into Thomas’s touch, bringing their lips together again. “I love you,” he breathed. “I love you so much.”

* * *

Asra and Lucio were already gone when Julian and Thomas roused themselves, feeling refreshed for the first time in what felt like months. Thomas was sure it hadn’t been that long since this mess began- since the fateful night that Julian broke into the shop, looking for Asra- but it felt like a lifetime ago to him.

“Look who’s awake!” Portia said cheerfully, motioning for them to join her, Mazelinka, Muriel, and the Hierophant at the table. They took their seats, Julian looking uncomfortable as Portia eagerly engaged in conversation.

Mazelinka noticed, and in a break in the conversation, she said, “What’s wrong with you, Ilya? You look like someone ran over a puppy with a carriage.”

Julian grimaced. “I wish Asra had waited before leaving. I wanted to make sure he was alright to travel. I know he said he felt fine, but concussions are nothing to play with.”

The Hierophant smiled. “That is precisely the reason he didn’t wait. He didn’t want to give you a chance to try and stop him. We tried to tell him that you wouldn’t actually try to stop him, but he didn’t even want to have the conversation.”

Thomas sighed heavily. “He’s changed,” he said wistfully, “and I don’t think I like it.”

“We’ve all changed,” Mazelinka said.

Muriel shook his head. “Not like Asra has. He used to be so careful. He’s _reckless_ now. He wouldn’t have taken the chance of hurting one of you before, and he’s lucky Lucio was there to give him a target he didn’t care about.”

“What was he supposed to do?” Julian protested. “Let Vulgora know they had no sway over him? They’d have tortured him.”

“I don’t know. I just know that attacking you wouldn’t have even been on the table before.”

“Well, he’s gone,” Portia said uneasily, “and whether he’s fit to carry out his mission or not, we’re just going to have to hope that Lucio is enough to protect him.” Muriel gave a snort and she shook her head. “That’s the basics of the matter. We can’t do anything about it now.”

“Right, so,” Mazelinka said, picking up a mug and taking a deep swig from it. “This Valdemar person. What’s their deal?”

“Their deal is that they’re evil,” Julian said, with more conviction than Thomas had ever heard from him. “The things they did, the things they forced _us _to do- suffice it to say that I carry more than a little guilt for not speaking out against their methods. And they almost killed Thomas in Death’s realm, before I- _before._ But Thomas beat them once, and I believe he can do it again. It’s been a while, but with any luck, they’ll not have recovered fully from their encounter with us."

"It's been a really long time," Thomas said doubtfully. "I can't imagine that they haven't recovered yet."

The Hierophant spoke up. "Death is in decline again. He isn't strong enough to help guard the courtiers. Thomas is right- they _have_ recovered, and they're dangerous. I need you to understand that before you go traipsing off to capture them."

"We understand that," Mazelinka said. "There's no getting around it. We have to go after them if we want to free Vesuvia. They’re the last link in this hellscape, aren’t they? And once we’ve freed Vesuvia, we can go after the Devil. So let’s go. This has gone on long enough. I’m more than ready to see this end.”

“Don’t act hastily. This isn’t something you should rush into. You have four people, and I don’t need to tell Thomas and Julian that Valdemar is _dangerous._ Please, please be careful. We’re lost if you are. Asra and Lucio will not be able to defeat Valdemar without you.”

“We’ll be careful,” Portia said, standing. “Once we go, there’s no turning back. Are we ready?”

Together, they took stock of their condition. Julian examined them for signs of exhaustion, signs that they shouldn’t go. Finally, he nodded his assent. “Let’s get this over with, but we need a plan before we get there. Last time we encountered Valdemar, they were able to flee before we finished the job. They can’t be allowed to flee this time. We need to get them and hold them while Thomas works.”

Mazelinka nodded. “I think we can do that. Lead on.”

They turned towards the Hierophant, who nodded, and opened the portal once again. This time, they could see the palace on the other side. Thomas turned to the Hierophant. “You mean you could’ve sent us there this whole time?”

“No,” he replied with a shake of his head. “I’m still regaining my strength. As I do, I’ll have more ability to help you. The others will, as well. While you’re taking care of Valdemar, I’m going to reach out to the Magician and the Star to see if they’ll join us. I think they will; the Star’s power was never sapped and the Magician’s only to a slight extent. The Devil is losing this war, and surely they can feel that.”

Thomas nodded. “Right. See if the other Arcana can help, too.”

“I was planning on it. Now, off you go. Good luck.”

With that, the group headed into the portal, and came out just inside the front doors to the palace. Portia closed her eyes, reaching out with her magic as Asra had the first time they were there looking for the courtiers, and after a moment, opened them again. "Valdemar's still in the dungeon."

As they started walking, Julian said, "We need to warn you about them. Remember how Vlastomil and Volta and Valerius looked before Thomas unbound them?" Mazelinka and Portia nodded, and Julian took a ragged breath. "Valdemar was... terrifying. I can't describe it, and I'm not sure that Thomas can, either." At Thomas's shake of the head, Julian continued, "To be honest, I don't know that they _have_ a human form anymore. I think they've been this way for so long that they're just... dead."

Mazelinka considered this for a moment. "Are you implying that we may kill Valdemar by unbinding them?"

Thomas nodded. "That's exactly what he's implying. I didn't think about it until just now, but I don't think that there's anything to Valdemar anymore _but_ their deals with the Devil. It's a little late to consider this, but are we fully prepared to end Valdemar's life, if this is the case?"

Julian nodded grimly. "They're evil," he repeated. "Even moreso than Vulgora. And they wouldn't hesitate to end _our_ lives. At this point, it's them or us, and I don't plan on getting killed before we've taken care of the Devil." Mazelinka and Portia murmured their agreement.

Julian led them through the palace to the library, pulled the books out, and the four of them watched in trepidation as the hidden door swung open. Without a word, the four of them filed into the stairwell, and descended into the darkness. Thomas and Portia lighted their way with magic, the group stepping carefully off the last stair and into the hallway. When they came to the elevator, they looked on grimly. "We're not all going to fit in there," Julian said finally. "I'm not sure I'm going to fit at all."

"Who goes first?" Thomas asked, ignoring Julian's remark about not fitting.

"Mazelinka and me," Portia said, squaring her shoulders. "They're least likely to want to dissect us if we get snatched up right away."

"Then me," Julian said, stretching his wings out briefly, as if to punctuate his concern that he wouldn't be able to get in the elevator. "I get the feeling Thomas is going to need to stuff me in there."

Thomas bit back a lewd remark. It was neither the time nor the place for it. Instead he simply nodded, and Mazelinka and Portia squeezed into the elevator and pulled the lever. It clanged out of sight. Julian and Thomas watched, and Julian shuddered. "I don't want to go back down there," he whispered.

"You don't have to," Thomas replied, putting a hand on Julian's feathery arm. "Let the three of us deal with Valdemar."

"You wouldn't stand a chance alone." There was no judgment to his voice. "You need all three of us to restrain Valdemar while you do what you need to do. I'll be alright. Just- just be safe. Please." Julian put his hands on Thomas's shoulders. "You are my world," he said softly. "I don't know what I'd do if anything happened to you- and Valdemar would _love_ to rip you apart, knowing what you are. I'm not going to let that happen. I can face them. I promise."

Thomas reached up and put a hand on Julian's face, stroking the feathers there. "If you're sure..."

Julian managed a wavering smile. "Anything for you." He caught Thomas's hand in his and kissed it.

A moment later, the elevator clanged back up to them, and Julian disengaged with Thomas and went to it. He squeezed in, holding his wings as close to his body as he could manage and ducking his head. Thomas made sure his wings were in the chamber entirely before nodding, and, reaching awkwardly, Julian pulled the lever again, leaving Thomas alone.

Thomas paced, worried. What if the elevator never came back up? What if Valdemar got them as they came out of the elevator? He had no doubt that Valdemar would love to get their hands on him, but he was equally sure that Valdemar would love to get their hands on _Julian_. Thomas may be the Fool, but Julian wasn't quite human anymore, and Valdemar would find that too fascinating to resist. And none of them would dare to tell Valdemar that Thomas was waiting for them to send the elevator back up. He'd be stuck there, not knowing what had become of his friends, until either Asra returned, or Valdemar came up for him- because he wasn't going to leave them to founder. He had to find some way of getting down there if the elevator never came back up.

Fortunately, it did, and Thomas breathed a sigh of relief as he stepped inside and pulled the lever. He didn't want to go down there anymore than Julian wanted to, but he knew he had no choice. This was too important to run away from. They were so, so close to freeing Vesuvia!

His friends waited for him at the bottom of the elevator, and Julian embraced him as he stepped out of it. "Portia went scouting," Julian whispered. "She looked through the window of the door. Valdemar is sitting there, studying some papers. If we're quiet we can surprise them." Thomas nodded, and together, the four companions crept forward to the door. Julian put a hand on the handle, and then held up his other hand, counting down from three. At one, he flung open the door and they rushed in, magic in Thomas's, Portia's, and Mazelinka's hands.

Valdemar didn't look up. "I was wondering how long you were going to skulk about the door," they said, sounding bored. 

Thomas dropped his hands in surprise, then pulled the magic fire back to his palms. "We're here to stop you," he growled.

At this, Valdemar did look up, standing and clasping their hands in front of them. "And what exactly are you here to stop me from doing, hm? Protecting Vesuvia from the Devil?"

"That doesn't make any sense," Julian barked. "You're _working_ for the Devil."

"Not anymore." A cruel grin split their face. "I would tell you that you could be reasonable and just walk away, but you're not going to and besides, I don't want to." The group startled as the dungeon door slammed shut behind them, and Valdemar stalked forward, rubbing their hands together eagerly. "Who am I going to examine first... Both Doctor 069 and Thomas have been brought back to life, but Doctor 069 is one of us now, and I've never examined a demon before.... but I've never examined an Arcana, either..."

"Over my dead body!" Mazelinka snarled, lightning streaking from her fingertips.

Valdemar _tut_'ed, and dodged out of the way. "That can definitely be arranged," they purred. Red mist overtook their vision as Valdemar's form began shifting and changing. Thomas, although he knew what was coming, wasn't prepared for it as their body expanded into a mass of goo and eyes and ribs, undulating and twisting as he watched. 

He swallowed back the visceral reaction he'd had to them in Death's realm, and called out, "Use your magic to hold them!" He bolted forward, unable to see or hear anything but Valdemar, reaching for the chains. His fingers brushed the chains and Valdemar pulled away. A thread of goo shot out form their body and wrapped around their wrist; it burned, and Thomas screamed, clawing at it with his free hand. Valdemar responded by entangling his other hand as well, yanking him forward into them. "Julian!" Thomas screamed at the top of his voice. "Mazelinka! Portia!"

Valdemar chuckled, the sound making him want to cover his ears and drop to his knees. "They're useless to you," Valdemar's hideous voice whispered in his ear. "They turned tail and ran out on you, and now you're mine-"

"That's not true!"

Julian's voice cut through the haze of pain. A moment later, sharp claws flashed in Thomas's sight and Valdemar recoiled, their ooze bleeding from five gashes. Valdemar released Thomas, squealing as they reared back away from the onslaught. Julian caught Thomas as he stumbled away, and he could see again. Portia and Mazelinka flanked Valdemar, magic pouring from them as it engulfed the monster. "Are you okay?" Julian gasped, frantically checking Thomas over.

Thomas managed a nod as he stood upright again and advanced. Again, he made a lunge for the chains, but as before, Valdemar's goo flicked out and wrapped around his wrists. Again, it burned, but Thomas gritted his teeth and pushed past the pain, straining to reach the chains. His fingers brushed the white hot metal, and Valdemar jerked him away. Then, with a terrible, horrible scream that set every nerve in Thomas's body on edge and rattled his bones, Valdemar's power flung outward, racing up the magic from Mazelinka and Portia and back into their faces. They fell away with a cry, and Julian reached for Thomas again, but Valdemar pulled him into a deadly embrace, their goo wrapping around his throat. "Come closer and I crush his windpipe," Valdemar snarled.

Julian immediately backed away, turning to Portia, lying senseless on the floor. Thomas held himself as still as he could, holding his breath as he felt Valdemar's form shrink back into its human shape, their hand wrapped firmly around his throat. He closed his eyes as Valdemar murmured, "What am I to do with all of you now..." Julian stood and stalked forward, and Valdemar's grip tightened. Thomas choked, his air cut off, and Julian immediately backed away. "I don't think I want you all conscious," they said finally. "Sweet dreams."

There was a flash of light, of blinding pain, and then Thomas felt nothing at all.


	11. Chapter 11

"Alright, genius. Where are we going _now?_"

They had been traveling for hours, searching, to no avail. Lucio had said that he knew where Asra's parents were in this world, and had rejected Asra's offers to find them by magic. "I've got this," he repeated, several times, bringing them to their current location: the middle of nowhere, apparently. 

Lucio glared at their surroundings. It was beautiful; bushes of iridescent flowers surrounded the path, their colors shifting and swirling in their petals. Asra thought he could hear the babbling of a stream nearby, although he couldn't see it. Colors shifted and swirled in his vision, weird lights casting strange shadows over everything. It was peacefully quiet, something Asra couldn't say of very many places anymore. If he didn't have the Devil looming over his head, he might've been content to stay there.

But they had been searching for a way out of there for what felt like hours already, and nothing they did seemed to get them any further in their quest. Asra didn't think Lucio had a clue where he was going. Maybe he thought he did at the start of this, but he certainly didn't now. Lucio set him with a glare. "This wasn't here before," he insisted, gesturing at a tree that was blocking their path. "We must be going the right way."

Asra shook his head. "I'm done following your directions. We're doing this my way."

"And what, exactly, is _your way?_"

"We'll find them with magic."

"You don't know where they are!"

"That's what the magic is for!"

"And what are you going to do? How does this work?"

Asra dropped his concentration, sighing. "I can try to locate them with magic. Their presence should be familiar to me. If you've done your job, they should be close by now, right?"

Lucio gritted his teeth. "Asra, you haven't seen them since you were seven years old. There's no way you'd be able to recognize their 'presence'." He clawed quote marks in the air.

"You remembered how old I was when _you_ orphaned me. How touching." Without waiting for Lucio to respond, Asra focused again, searching, determined not to let Lucio break his concentration again. He reached out with his magic, searching for anyone or anything else that was nearby. At first, he felt nothing.

Then, in the distance, he felt something, a pull on his magic that was painfully familiar. It sang to him like a lullaby. "They're that way," Asra said, pointing.

Lucio looked in the direction Asra was pointing, and then back to Asra, and back again. "How do you know?"

"I sensed them."

"You _sensed_ them. I don't know if I want to follow a direction that's so vague."

"Do _you_ have any better ideas?"

"Of course I do! I-"

Asra cut him off with a sigh. "I'm going that way. You're welcome to come with if you want to."

"I should just let you go by yourself, you brat. You've always _been _a brat." Asra ignored Lucio's grumbling, and started walking. After a moment, Lucio followed him.

The enviornment soon shifted to a blasted-out, barren land. The sky above was blood red, matching the red of the rock they traversed over. Lucio walked closer and closer to Asra; Asra could _feel_ Lucio getting more and more nervous. "Hey, uh, are you absolutely sure you're going the right way?"

"Positive. Their aura is getting stronger."

"Then, uh, why don't you make that ice spear of yours appear? Just to be safe."

Before Asra could object, Lucio drew his sword. Sighing, Asra summoned his ice spear, tail flicking in annoyance. Everything was under control, but there was no point in agitating Lucio further. He didn't want Lucio getting spooked and acting without Asra's agreement, and humoring him was the easiest way to do that. They advanced through the wasteland, alert, until they came to a giant dying tree, gold chains wrapped tightly around the trunk. Lucio stopped several steps before Asra did, and even then Asra only stopped because the chains trailing on the ground sprang to life. A golden door rested nestled between roots and chains. "They're in there," Asra said, confidence in every syllable. 

"Alright," Lucio said, creeping forward. "So how do we get them out? Those chains don't look very friendly. Can't you-" Lucio wiggled his fingers in the air. "Do some magic or something to get past them?"

"I can try." Asra took a deep breath, focusing his magic. Frost settled over the chains, freezing them. Lucio's eyes darted from Asra to the chains as they slumped to the ground under the weight of the ice Asra was blanketing them with. Asra took a step forward; they were sluggish, but they still moved towards him. Asra considered this for a second. Then he took a deep breath, and abruptly sent searing heat at the chains. They shattered with an audible shriek, crumbling to dust before them. 

Lucio clapped his hands. "Impressive! I was about to ask you what making them cold was going to accomplish. How did you do that?" 

"Magic," Asra clipped back, heading for the door in the tree. He placed a hand on the door, closing his eyes, willing it to open. He felt it disintegrate beneath his fingers and took a deep breath, opening his eyes. He saw a starry vista on the other side of the doorway, and staring out at him were two people, a man and a woman and painfully familiar to Asra. "Mom? Dad?" he whispered.

The woman spoke, but Asra couldn't hear her. Lucio came up behind him. "Are you sure it's them?" Lucio asked.

Asra nodded, tears flooding his eyes. He angrily brushed them away; he would _not_ cry in front of Lucio. "It's them," he said, his voice husky with emotion. Then he reached up and touched one of the fox ears on his head. "I don't know if I can face them like this," he whispered.

Lucio looked at him like he'd lost his mind. "What? Of course you can face them like this. You're this way because you were fighting back. There's no shame in that." He gestured to the portal. "Well? Go on. I'll be standing guard out here. I'll shout for you if I need you."

Much to Asra's relief, Lucio turned away. The tact that Lucio was showing surprised him; but he didn't have time to ponder it now. He turned back to the portal and, with a deep breath, stepped into it. Warm arms pulled him though, crowding close, embracing him. His parents were crying as they whispered his name, and his arms went around them both, buring his face in his mother's shoulder. They stood like that for what felt like forever before Asra pulled away. Before he had a chance to say anything, Salim asked, "What- what's happened to you?"

Again, Asra lifted a hand to his inhuman ears, tail flicking in agitation. "How aware are you of the state of the worlds?" he asked them cautiously.

They looked at each other in alarm. "State of the _worlds_?" Aisha repeated. "What do you mean?"

They clearly didn't know what was going on. "The Devil merged the magical realms and the physical world," he said softly. He let them react, let them gasp and murmur in disbelief, before he continued. "We tried to stop him, but we weren't able to. We're trying to take him down now, but before we were able to find each other again, I was fighting him alone. I'm not sure if it's because of that or because- because I have a deal with the Devil, but one of those things is making me change."

"You have a- oh, Asra," Salim said, pulling Asra into their arms again. "What could have been so important as to need to deal with the _Devil_, of all the Arcana?"

"It was life or death. Literally." Asra snuggled in close to them.

"Yours?" Aisha asked softly.

Asra shook his head. "No. A friend I love very much. He's helping fight the Devil now, too, along with the rest of our friends." At that, he looked up at them. "Will you help us fight him?"

Salim nodded. "Of course we'll help you fight, just... we need to find our familiars. We'll be useless to you without them." 

A look of surprise came over Asra's face, and then understanding. "Of course." He sighed deeply. "I assume you see Lucio out there."

Annoyance and anger flashed over both of their faces. "We see him," Salim said grimly. "What are you _doing_ with him? He's dangerous."

"He is, but he's on our side. The Devil stabbed him in the back. I don't know how much we can trust him, but I- I was hurt, and he's taken care to make sure I'm not hurt worse, since I've been with him. And he had an opportunity to seriously hurt me before and he chose to just disable-"

"What in the world-"

"I'll explain while we're searching," Asra cut Aisha off. "Let me go get him, and-"

"Absolutely not!"

He huffed. "We don't have the luxury of picking and choosing our allies right now. And he is _not_ going to wait outside for us, I can guarantee you that much." Still, they seemed to hesitate, and Asra sighed. "I can control him," he lied. "I don't think _any_ of us should trust him, but I'm asking you to trust _me_. Please."

Aisha and Salim looked at each other doubtfully, and for a moment, Asra thought they were going to refuse. He was preparing himself to argue further when they nodded together. "We believe you," Salim said solemnly. "But make sure he knows we'll take him down if we even _think_ he's going to turn on us."

Asra heaved a sigh of relief. "I can do that. Wait here."

They let him go, and he trudged back to the portal, sticking his head out of it. "We have a problem," Asra announced grimly.

Lucio sighed, arms crossed over his chest, forefinger tapping his bicep impatiently. "Of course we do. What now?"

He wanted to tell him that he wasn’t allowed to have an attitude about this. His parents were in the position they were in wholly because of Lucio. Saying such would only make Lucio pout, at best, so Asra swallowed back the admonition and said, “They’ve been separated from their familiars. We need to find them, or they’ll be practically useless to us.”

As Asra predicted, Lucio made a face. "I haven't seen you with your little snake friend _once_. What's different between you?"

Asra gritted his teeth, bowing his head and willing himself to be patient. "I know where she is," he said finally, "and I'm in constant contact with her. They don't even know where their familiars are, let alone able to communicate with them."

Lucio made an unconvinced sound, but turned and came through the portal anyway. "Why didn't you bring her with you, anyway?" Lucio asked.

Asra considered refusing to answer, if for no other reason than it was none of Lucio's business. That wasn't conducive to getting Lucio's cooperation, so as they started to walk, he answered. "This is dangerous, and she- well- I won't put her in any danger that I don't have to. She's safe where she is, and can lend me her power whenever I need it. If their familiars are imprisoned somewhere, they can't access that power."

He hated speaking of his parents' familiars like that, as if they existed just for their magic, but Lucio wouldn't understand any other terms. It was pointless to tell him that they needed to rescue the familiars because it was the merciful thing to do, for both them and his parents. He'd scoff at that. He didn't scoff at the argument Asra had made, instead making a thoughtful noise as they approached Aisha and Salim. "Aisha! Salim!" Lucio greeted, a wide grin on his face. "It's good to see you! You both look well!"

Asra's parents exchanged a disgusted look, and Aisha looked away. Salim watched her for a second before addressing Lucio, grudgingly: "You look well, as well. Aisha and I have a general idea of where our familiars are; hopefully we'll find them and get out of here quickly."

"That's what we're here to do!" Cheerfully, oblivious to their distaste for him, Lucio looked around, then shrugged. "Well? You're the ones who've been here for twenty years. Lead on." Aisha shot him a glare over her shoulder, and started walking. Asra and Salim followed, and Lucio, after a stunned moment, did so as well. "Hey, wait for me!"

They traveled mostly in silence; Asra could tell that his parents wanted to talk, were brimming with questions, but didn't feel comfortable asking them in front of Lucio. Instead, Asra started from the beginning- started from the Countess's quest to find Julian for Lucio's murder- and explained the events of the days leading up to the merge. There were a lot of blanks in his story, blanks that only Thomas and Julian would be able to fill in, but they weren't necessary for his parents to understand the gravity of the situation. 

And they had the sense that things were grave indeed. "How's your head now?" Salim asked.

Asra grimaced. "It hurts a little bit. Not nearly as badly as it did when it actually happened."

"He was in a damn hurry to leave the Hierophant's realm to come here," Lucio piped up. "Jules wanted him to just rest, said he had a concussion and that was nothing to mess with. Pretty sure Jules'd asked him to stay behind if we didn't get out of there before he had a chance to examine him."

Aisha and Salim exchanged worried looks. Asra saw it and shook his head. "I'm _fine_. I haven't even gotten dizzy in a few hours-"

"Wait, a few _hours_?" Lucio put a hand on his shoulder, dragging him to a stop. "You told me that the only thing wrong was that you had a headache! You said nothing about getting dizzy!"

Asra gave him a smirk. "Don't pretend like _you_ haven't lied plenty to _me_, Lucio. And there's nothing we can do about it right now even if I'm wrong and I'm not fine, so-"

Salim approached him. "There might not be anything _you_ can do about it," he said firmly, "but I can help. Here."

Asra bit back the urge to protest that he was fine again. Instead, he let Salim rummage through his pockets, eventually producing a vial of liquid. "Here, drink this. I developed it in my idle time. It'll help heal any internal damage."

Taking the vial, Asra uncorked it and sniffed at it. It smelled pleasant, almost fruity. "I don't know," he said softly. "How much of this do you have? We could use this later in case someone gets hurt-"

"I have plenty back where we've been living," Salim cut him off. "And you're hurt right now. Please, Asra."

That was all it took for Asra to give in. He put the vial to his lips and tilted his head back, ignoring the way the world swam until he righted himself. Having drained the vial, he corked it again and handed it back to his father, who pocketed it again. Almost immediately, the pain in his head abated, and the dizziness and nausea he'd experienced from tilting his head back eased. "Well?" Salim asked quietly.

"That works _fast_," Asra said, surprised. "Thank you."

"Anything for you," Salim replied with a smile.

With barely disguised disdain, Lucio said, "Are we done now? Can we go?"

Aisha snapped, "We're not going until Asra is healed, but you're more than welcome to _go back_ if we're taking too long."

Lucio held up his hands. "Whoa, save the fight for the Devil, eh? I'm just saying, the others have probably either beaten Valdemar by now, or had their asses handed to them, and either way we want to _hurry_. He says he's fine. It's not my problem if you don't believe him, but I do."

Aisha looked like she wanted to argue further. Instead she put a hand on Asra's arm. "How are you feeling now?"

"Much better." Then, as if it pained him to say it, he said, "But Lucio's right, for once. Valdemar isn't someone to trifle with. We need to get back there as quickly as possible to help contain them."

"Or to rescue the others," Lucio piped up as they started walking again.

Asra gritted his teeth. "I refuse to believe that Valdemar got the best of them. Do you know what it means if that happened? It means that in all likelihood, they're _dead_. I can't face that. We're going to return to help contain Valdemar, _not_ rescue the others."

Lucio's expression softened in a way none of them thought was possible. "Valdemar _is_ evil," he said softly, "but they wouldn't just slaughter four people off the cuff. If we take too long to get to them, though, you're right, we'll be recovering corpses, so I suggest we _get a move on_."

"Imagine _you_ calling someone else evil," Salim said dryly.

“What is that supposed to mean?!”

“Let it go, Lucio.” Asra’s voice was flat and commanding. Much to Asra’s surprise, Lucio lapsed into sullen silence.

They traveled quickly through the realm, on edge and alert. They finally came to a cave, where Aisha and Salim stopped. “I can sense them in here,” Aisha said, as the two of them stepped into the cave. Asra and Lucio followed, as Salim murmured his agreement. They didn’t need to light their way; the walls seemed to glow, casting creepy light over everything.

By the time they reached the innermost chamber of the cave, Lucio was over Salim’s remark, gazing around in keen interest. “This reminds me of my yelling cave,” he mused. Then he looked forward again. “Looks like your snakes are stuck behind those stalactites. There’re those stupid chains, too. Asra, wanna kill those ones, too?”

Asra stepped forward, summoning his magic to him. As he’d done before, he focused on cold until the chains were in a deep freeze, then abruptly sent searing heat into them, shattering them like glass. The chains taken care of, Aisha and Salim rushed forward. It took only a little magic for them to break the stalactites and reach the two snakes. 

Asra smiled, watching them scoop up and cuddle their familiars, thinking about all the cuddling he was going to do with Faust when all of this was over. 

After a few minutes, they returned to them, their familiars secure in their clothes. “Alright,” Salim said, “Our next step is to get back to Vesuvia and help the others deal with Valdemar, right?”

“Right. The quicker the better. Asra? Do you know how to get us back there without having to walk all that way back?” Lucio asked.

Asra nodded, closing his eyes. “I think I can do that. I just have to-“

His voice trailed off, focusing, trying to recall the Hierophant’s instruction. He envisioned the Hierophant’s voice, explaining the process. His eyes flew open as the sound of metal grating against stone filled the cavern. A golden doorway stood in the middle of the chamber; Asra could see the peaceful vineyards beyond. He took a deep breath, gesturing for the others to follow him, and stepped through the door.


	12. Chapter 12

Muriel greeted Asra eagerly; his parents, shyly; and Lucio, not at all. He did his best to ignore the count as he told Asra what the situation was: “They left a few hours after you did. We haven’t heard anything from them since. They should be back by now. I’m afraid something’s happened to them.”

Lucio cursed. “I knew we were taking too long. I knew that this was going to happen. We need to go, right now. If they aren’t already dead, they will be soon.”

Asra swallowed thickly, the thought of his friends at the Quaestor’s mercy making his stomach twist in knots. “Lucio’s right. I need to know if they’re alright. We need to go to them.”

The Hierophant looked over the group. “I wish you had time to rest. How’s your head?”

Asra instinctively pressed his fingers to his temple. “I feel fine. Dad had some concoction that healed me right up-“ and then he cursed as well. “Your healing potion! We were so eager to get back that we completely forgot to get more!”

Salim put a hand on his shoulder. “God willing, we won’t need it,” he said solemnly. “We can always go back once we have your friends. That’s the most important thing right now.”

“Will you be joining them, Muriel?” the Hierophant asked.

Muriel seemed to seriously consider it, then shook his head. “No, I- I can’t. If they’re in trouble there will be fighting, and I’ll just freeze up like I did before.”

Asra put a hand on Muriel’s arm. “That’s fine,” he said soothingly. “We’ll be back with the others as quickly as possible. Thank you for continuing to stand guard over the other courtiers. Your help is invaluable, Muriel.”

Then he took a deep breath. “Can you send us to the palace, Hierophant?”

The Arcana nodded. “I’m still trying to contact the Magician. I’ll send him to help you once I’ve secured his cooperation. I am positive he will be willing to help, seeing the progress you’ve made so far.”

"It wasn't that he wasn't willing to help before," Asra said uncomfortably, "it was that Thomas is the only one capable of defeating the Devil at this point. He was too focused on keeping his realm safe for me. But you're right, it'd be worth asking him again."

The Hierophant nodded again, and the portal into the palace opened once more. "Be careful. You don't know what kind of situation you're walking into."

"Believe me, we know." Asra took a deep breath, then looked back at Lucio and his parents. "Well, onward, I suppose."

Together, the four of them walked through the portal, and Asra closed his eyes, stretching out his magic. As it had been before, Valdemar was still in the dungeon, although Asra didn't quite know where that was. "Be on your guard," he cautioned, as they started walking through the halls.

Asra followed the thread of magic through the palace to the library. The four of them looked around, and Lucio approached one of the bookcases. "Let's see if I remember this properly..." he murmured, then reached for the books, pulling three out. He grinned as the trap door slid open. "Alright, I'm ready to go face them if you are."

"We're ready," Aisha said, and she and Salim both summoned their magic to them. 

Asra did the same, and Lucio drew his sword. "I'll take the lead," Lucio said. "They might- _might- _be willing to listen to me."

"I doubt it," Asra replied dryly.

"I didn't say it was _probable_. And I know you said you're fine but you were saying you were fine that entire time and I believe you but I told them I'd keep you safe. Stay behind me, all of you."

No one said anything in response, simply filing in a line behind Lucio as they went down the stairs and through the corridor. Asra bent to read the inscription as they reached the elevator, and snorted. "Cheerful."

"There's no accounting for taste," Lucio murmured, grabbing the elevator door and tugging. "What luck, it's open. Asra and I first, Aisha and Salim after. We'll send the elevator back up for you." They all nodded, and Lucio and Asra crowded into the elevator. 

As they descended, Lucio said, "Seriously, how's your head?"

"It's fine," Asra clipped back. "It's been fine since I took that potion of Dad's."

"So you were lying to me the whole time before about _not_ being fine?"

"I wasn't _lying_," Asra muttered, "and I don't answer to you besides."

Lucio sighed, glaring at him. "Do whatever it takes to protect your head. Jules was right, concussions are serious. I'm not going to have you knocked silly on my watch. I need you to be able to fight."

Asra nodded absently, not really paying attention to him. His mind was on what they were going to find down there. The thought to search for Thomas crossed his mind, but he shut it down, afraid of what he'd find. 

They reached the bottom of the elevator, sent it back up, and waited in silence. Minutes later, the elevator came clanging down again, and Aisha and Salim stepped out of it. Lucio looked over the party, made an unimpressed face, and nodded to the door. Silently, the four of them crept to the doors to the chamber and opened them.

Horror immediately gripped Asra as he took in their surroundings. Julian laid huddled against a wall in one direction, Mazelinka and Portia huddled together in the other. And in the center of the room, on the stage, was Valdemar and Thomas. Valdemar's hands were bloody, and Thomas's head was lolled to the side, eyes wide and unseeing. "_Thomas!_" Asra screamed in anguish. He stepped forward, and Lucio flung out an arm to hold him back as Valdemar darted out from behind the table and rushed at them. Lucio advanced, sword held at the ready, and slashed hard at Valdemar when they were within reach.

Valdemar laughed and sidestepped Lucio's strike, spreading their arms. Red mist filled their vision as Valdemar transformed. Asra thought he was going to throw up at the morass of gel and bones and eyes that faced them down now, but he fought down the nausea and instead drew his magic up around him. Moisture from the air condensed around him, and then froze into razor-sharp needle points. "Lucio!" he yelled. "Duck!" When Lucio obeyed him, he hurled the hundreds of needles at the monstrous form. They pelted into Valdemar, eliciting a shriek of- of pain? Anger? Asra wasn't sure, but he _was_ sure that Valdemar had turned their attention to him, slithering closer to him. As he backed up, summoning his ice spear, his parents let their magic loose, wrapping tight around Valdemar and squeezing. 

As Valdemar thrashed in Aisha and Salim’s hold, Lucio plunged his sword into them to the hilt. A terrible, bone-rattling shriek rang out, and Asra clamped his hands over his ears, flinching away from them. 

Lucio, meanwhile, yanked his blade down, cutting into Valdemar’s oozing flesh. They screamed again, and goo shot out from their body, seeking Lucio’s wrists. Lucio yanked away from them, but too late; the substance pulled him close. Lucio screamed in a panic, struggling to break free.

By then, Asra had recovered, and lunged forward, driving the tip of his spear into Valdemar’s body. Valdemar screeched again, and bright magic flared out from their body, flinging the four fighters away from them. “Impudent wretches!” Valdemar snarled, and advanced on Lucio. 

All attention turned to Julian as he suddenly gave a guttural scream and launched himself at Valdemar. Long talons dug into Valdemar’s flesh and tore downwards, ripping through ooze and eyes. Several eyes began to bleed as Valdemar gave one last shriek and shifted, sinking down into their human form. Bloodied, Valdemar thrust their magic out once more, again driving their assailants away from them. A portal opened up behind them, and they darted into it. Julian made a grab for them, but the portal snapped shut before he got there, and his fingers closed over thin air.

The five of them stood there, panting, as Portia and Mazelinka roused themselves. Julian stumbled back to the platform and the table, falling over Thomas’s body. “Help him!” he cried. “Please!”

Asra, Aisha, and Salim rushes forward. Asra choked on bile and tears as he took in the site before him. Thomas’s chest was mutilated, exposing his lungs and still-beating heart. “I can’t,” Asra whimpered, tears spilling over. “This is- this is far beyond my ability to heal.”

Julian gave a weak cry, falling across Thomas’s chest. Aisha put a hand on Asra’s shoulder, and he turned to her, burying his face in the crook of her neck. 

“You can save him, Asra.”

Asra tensed and yanked away from Aisha, looking around wildly. He saw him standing by the doorway, tall and arrogant in the dim light of the dungeon. Aisha and Salim moved to stand in front of Asra. “How in the world are you here?” Mazelinka demanded. “I thought the courtiers were protecting Vesuvia from you! We didn’t unbind them!”

“You didn’t,” the Devil confirmed with a malfeasant smile. "You simply injured them badly enough that it forced them to release the spell."

They all stared at him in varying states of disbelief. "You said I could save Thomas," Asra said, swallowing thickly. "What did you mean? Aren't you here to defeat us?"

"Why in the world would I raise my hand against people who've worked so diligently for me?" The Devil chuckled. "I'm aware of your little plot, but as they say- the enemy of my enemy is my friend. And so, as a token of my esteem, I'm giving you the opportunity to save his life."

"What do you want in return?" Asra's voice was tight. He would give up just about anything to stop this, but he knew the Devil better than any of them in that room. This offer would come with a steep, steep price.

The Devil seemed to read his mind as he smiled bigger. "Yours, Asra."

"No!" Salim exclaimed. "No, you can't take him! I won't allow it!"

The Devil _tut'_ed. "That isn't yours to decide. I wouldn't kill him. Why would I kill someone so useful to me?" He fixed Asra with his cold gaze and smile. "Do we have a deal?"

Asra swallowed hard again, closed his eyes, bowed his head. "Yes." The word came out as a ragged hiss.

"Asra!" Julian exclaimed, reaching for him. "You can't!"

"I survived one deal to get him back," Asra replied grimly, looking back up at the Devil, "I'll survive this one, too."

"Asra-" Lucio started, but Asra shook his head firmly, meeting the Devil's gaze. "We have a deal. Save him."

The Devil stretched out a hand, and Asra took it without hesitation. Instantly, black chains sprang up from the floor, wrapping around Asra's body. He hissed in pain as the chains burned him, and Aisha and Salim both took a step forward, reaching out to him. Lucio flung out a hand, blocking them. "It's too late," he snapped. Then, to Asra, he said, "We'll come for you!"

"Oh, I hope you will," the Devil replied with a grin. He extended a hand to the platform, and in a flash of light, Thomas's most dire wounds were healed. He gasped sharply, sitting bolt upright, looking around frantically. Then his gaze settled on the Devil and Asra, and he yelled Asra's name, reaching for him. Julian caught him before he could fall off the table as the Devil looked back to Asra. "Satisfied that I've upheld my end of the bargain?"

"Yes," Asra said softly.

"Then let's go."

"No! Asra! _Asra!_" Julian cried, arms still around Thomas. Asra simply turned away, his movements restricted by the chains around his body. The Devil put a hand on his shoulder, almost tenderly, and the two vanished in a flash of light. "Damn it!" 

"What happened?" Thomas asked, his voice shaking.

"You were fatally wounded by Valdemar," Lucio spat, "and that idiot made a deal with the Devil to save your life in exchange for his own. What the hell happened? I thought you were able to change demons back into humans! Why didn't you change Valdemar back?!"

"I tried!" Thomas whimpered, covering his face with his hands. "They overpowered us!"

Lucio opened his mouth to speak again, to scold him more, but Aisha spoke up. "Lucio, that's enough. It took you, Asra, and... and the bird to make them simply flee. For all you know, you wouldn't have been able to drive them off if not for Thomas and the others wearing them down."

Pouting, Lucio looked away. "Alright, fine. But we're not letting the Devil have Asra. He is too powerful to be in the enemy's hands. If the Devil somehow manages to turn him against us like Vulgora did-"

"Vulgora didn't turn him against us," Portia snapped. "He was _acting_. Asra would _never_ really fight against us."

"Are you saying you _want_ the Devil to-"

"Of course she isn't, you daft-" Mazelinka started.

"Enough!" Julian shouted over them. "Lucio's right. We can't let Asra stay with the Devil. I _personally _know the kind of hell sacrificing your soul to a deal inflicts on you. I'm not willing to let him suffer through that. The Devil said that Valdemar released the spell over Vesuvia, right? That means we can talk to the Countess now. We need to go tell her what the situation is and discuss our next steps."

"That sounds like a good idea," Salim said, curiosity burning in his gaze as he looked at Julian. "I'm Salim and this is Aisha, by the way. We're Asra's parents."

"Julian," he introduced himself. "That's Mazelinka, my- well, my grandmother. Kind of. And Pasha- Portia- my sister." He rested a hand carefully on Thomas's shoulder. "And this is Thomas, my- my lover. He was also Asra's apprentice, until very recently."

"It is a pleasure to meet all of you," Aisha said softly, "although I wish it were under better circumstances. You're all- you're all Asra's friends?" Portia and Mazelinka nodded, and she smiled sadly. "I'm glad. He was quite a loner as a little boy."

"He still is," Julian said dryly, "but we're working on it."

"If you're all done," Lucio clipped, "can we get moving? Please? Or do you _want_ the Devil to start torturing him like he tortured you, Jules?"

Julian frowned sharply. "Let's go, then." Julian carefully lifted Thomas off the table and set him on his feet, and the group filed out of the dungeon, heading for the throne room.


	13. Chapter 13

Thomas led the group back up out of the dungeon and through the palace to the throne room. Nadia’s eyes widened as the doors opened and her gaze fell on the group. There was silence as she took stock of them.

Finally, her gaze settled on Thomas and she asked, “Was it all of you who were haunting this place?”

“Yes.”

“I see no fewer than four... people... I don’t recognize,” she said softly, looking pointedly at Julian, “and I don’t see someone I expected to be with you. Where is Asra? I know he was with you before. It was his aura that alerted me to your presence the first time you came here.”

Julian cleared his throat. “Valdemar mortally wounded Thomas. Asra made a deal with the Devil to sacrifice himself to save him.”

“I see.” Nadia chewed her lip. “Is there nothing we can do to save _him? _Is he lost?”

“We don’t know,” Lucio responded grimly, “but none of us intend to let him stay there.”

Nadia’s gaze flicked to him. “I’m surprised to see you here, Lucio.”

He gave her a cocky grin. “No one stabs me in the back and gets away with it. Not even the Devil himself.”

“I see.” Next she looked at Julian. “And you are?”

“Doctor Devorak.”

“Julian?” she gasped. “What happened to you? No, wait- I think you all better start at the beginning. Come, let us gather my family and meet in a salon. I want to hear everything.”

Twenty minutes later, everyone packed into one of the salons in the palace, Thomas and Julian told everyone the story, from the moment the worlds merged. Nadia sipped tea thoughtfully as they finished the tale, with their dramatic rescue from Valdemar. “You’re right,” Nadia said finally, “we can’t allow Asra to languish in the Devil’s tender mercies. The question is, how do we intend to rescue him?”

“We go there and have the Thomas break the deal with the Devil, of course.” Lucio sounded like he thought Nadia an idiot for needing to ask that question. 

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before speaking again. “Asra’s deals with the Devil- both of them, from what it sounds like- were for Thomas’s life. I’m not willing to sacrifice his life for Asra’s, and I don’t think Asra would ever forgive us if we let that happen.”

Lucio shook his head. “I think you’ve got it all wrong. When Thomas freed me from the Devil, I just... went back to how I was before I made the deal. Nothing bad happened and I didn't lose anything."

"Does anyone know what Asra gave up to get Thomas back the first time?" Julian asked. Silence met him. "Asra said that his first deal was for Thomas's life, right? What if... what if freeing him from those deals kills Thomas?" 

The thought was unbearable to Julian, and Thomas put a hand on his arm. Lucio shook his head. "I'm telling you, that's not going to happen. Everything will be fine. You'll see. It _has_ to be fine. Thomas still has to unbind Valdemar. We do _not_ want them at our backs, looking for an opportunity to stick a knife in them. Then we can go after the Devil."

"I am going with you," Nadia said firmly.

"I am, as well," Nazali offered. It was the first time she'd spoken since laying eyes on Julian, and Thomas didn't know what to think about it. Julian had asked Asra to bring Nazali to them, before he sacrificed his soul to protect Thomas. Her gaze was fixed on Julian as she spoke. "I didn't know Asra but I do know he's important to Ilya. He told me a lot about Asra in letters he sent to me, before he fled Vesuvia. And it sounds like we're going to be at a sharp disadvantage without him."

Lucio gave a charming grin. "Excellent. Then I will stay and watch over Vesuvia."

"No, you won't," Nadia said sharply. "I want you where I can see you."

He frowned, pouting. "Why won't anyone trust me?"

"If you have to ask that, you're not trustworthy yet," Nadia replied dryly. "I'm aware that you've helped us so far, but I don't believe that you'll live up to the expectations you've set. If it were up to me, I'd banish you from Vesuvia right this instant, after everything you've done."

"Nadia, sweetheart, it _is_ up to you," Namar said. “You’re the Countess.”

“Now wait just a minute here,” Lucio objected, his tone harsh. “I almost got beat up by Asra and almost _killed _by Valdemar for you people, and you’re talking about banishing me? I’m the count! You can’t-“

“You’ve been legally dead for three years,” Nadia cut him off. “You hold no power anymore. But you’re right.” She sighed. “If you’re a double agent, you’re certainly being helpful anyway.” She stood, and joined them. Nazali quickly moved to join them as well. “I believe you,” Nadia said finally. “But be aware that if I even suspect that you intend to betray us, you will answer to me. Am I clear?”

“Crystal,” Lucio replied with a slight scowl. “I don’t get how you could be so suspicious of me, Noddy. You know me.”

“That is exactly why I can be so suspicious of you. Thomas, how easily can you take us to the Devil’s realm?”

Thomas shook his head. “I don’t know the way. The Hierophant will know. And we should tell Muriel what happened. He may want to help, too.”

“Alright. Lead on.”

* * *

Thomas took them back to the Hierophant’s realm, where Thomas broke the news of Asra’s sacrifice as gently as he could to Muriel. 

Muriel still took it hard. “I don’t get it,” he muttered, turning away. “You broke his heart. Why would he still sacrifice himself for you?”

Hearing the words made something inside Thomas twist painfully. “What are you talking about?”

Julian put a hand on Thomas’s shoulder as Nadia approached Muriel. “He may have broken Asra’s heart,” she said softly, “but that doesn’t mean that Asra stopped loving him. Besides the fact that Asra knew that if we lose Thomas, we lose the war. Surely you know that as well.”

After a moment, Muriel nodded. “I know that. I’m going with you. He’s my only friend. I can’t let him languish in the Devil’s realm.”

“You do realize we more likely than not will need to fight, right?” Mazelinka said. 

Muriel paled, but nodded. “Thomas needs to get close to Asra to break his deals, right? I’ll focus on getting him there while the rest of you cover us.”

“That sounds like a plan,” Nazali said. “I’ll help with that.” Muriel looked like he wanted to object. Instead he just nodded, looking away.

The Hierophant had been quiet through the discussion. “You must be absolutely prepared before you do this,” he said. “I know your intention is to get Asra and get out, but the Devil may not give you any choice but to fight him- and Asra will _not _be able to help you. Are you sure you’re ready?”

Thomas looked over the group; one by one, as his gaze settled on them, they nodded. Then he did as well. “We’re ready. Open the portal.”

The Hierophant gestured, and another magical portal opened. “That will bring you as close to his realm as I can bring you without alerting him to your presence. Good luck.”

Together, the group walked through the portal, and into a red, painfully hot valley. Thomas looked around as they fanned out, already sweating. “I’m going to try to find him,” he announced. He closed his eyes, stretching out his magic, searching for Asra’s presence. He felt it to the north, faint, but there, and opened his eyes, pointing. “That way. Let’s get moving.”

Together, the group started walking. They talked quietly amongst themselves, the conversations encompassing no more than three of them at once. At one point, Thomas heard Aisha and Salim arguing quietly with Lucio, and Thomas did his best to ignore it. “We shouldn’t have brought him with us,” Thomas muttered to Julian. 

Julian looked over his shoulder at them. “Nadia’s right, though. It’s better to have him here where we can keep an eye on him.”

“Do you think he really wants Asra back?”

Julian considered his words very carefully. “I think Lucio comes as close as he can to actually caring about someone when it comes to Asra. And Nadia and me, but we’re not talking about us.”

“Yes, maybe so, but- but didn’t Asra stab him in the back to bring me back? And he’s going on about how he won’t let anyone get away with stabbing him in the back?” I 

Julian sighed. “If we must deal with Lucio when we get Asra back, then we must. I think if he was going to try to exact some type of revenge against Asra, he’d have done it in the face off with Vulgora. I can’t explain why he didn’t; that’s something you’ll have to ask him. But my best guess is that the Devil’s betrayal was the bigger one.”

"I suppose so," Thomas said doubtfully. Then he shook his head. "I guess we'll be able to deal with him if he turns on us, once we have Asra back. I don't think Asra himself will be able to handle him- we don't know what condition we're going to find him in- but the group of us can deal with him."

"That's the spirit," Julian replied, swaying to bump into Thomas affectionately. "As for what state we're going to find him in..." He gestured down at himself. “This took a while to happen, but...”

“I know.” Thomas sighed. “He won’t take well to that kind of transformation. I... I just hope Lucio’s right. If Asra is right, and unbinding him kills me...”

Thomas could tell that the thought was unbearable to Julian. “I have to believe that Lucio is right,” he said softly. “I- I don’t want to lose either of you.”

“We’ll find a solution,” Thomas said firmly. “I think that if there was a chance that this would kill me, the Hierophant would’ve warned us before we left.”

"He may not actually know either way, either." Julian sighed heavily. "We're just... going to have to take the chance. We're not leaving Asra to rot."

"No, we're not," Thomas agreed firmly. "I'll be alright, Julian. I know I will." And then he smiled. "And if we're able to free Asra without any ill effects, then we'll be able to free _you_, too."

Julian frowned. "I don't want you to do that."

"Julian-"

"No, listen to me. I'm stronger in this form than as a human being, and after what happened with Valdemar- you were already dying, but Lucio and Asra wouldn't have been able to make Valdemar flee on their own. They're lucky I came to and helped them when I did. I wouldn't be able to do that as a human. And I don't want to hear anything about this again, alright? This is my choice. Maybe once we've bound the Devil, I'll let you do it, but definitely not before."

Thomas bit back an angry, sad retort. It was Julian's choice to remain as he was, but Thomas didn't have to like it. He thought that Julian was using his circumstances to avoid coming to terms with what exactly he had done when he made his deal with the Devil, that he'd made it easier for the Devil to do this to the world. But as much as he wanted to bring it up, he wouldn't. He just hoped Asra didn't feel similarly. He could almost hear Asra demanding that they leave without freeing him, for fear of doing harm to Thomas.

He didn't know what he would do if that happened, but he did know that they weren't leaving without Asra. Whether Thomas unbound him or not, Asra was coming with them. He knew it was possible. Technically, Julian still belonged to the Devil, and the Devil hadn't made any attempt to take him back yet. He was positive that taking Asra had been nothing but an attempt to hurt them. Surely he knew that they would come for him. 

It didn't take long for the enviornment to turn against them. The oppressively hot air became scorching, almost too hot to tolerate. Thomas, Aisha, and Salim created a bubble of cooler air that encompassed the group, but they wouldn't be able to hold that for long. "How far are we from him?" Muriel asked when he realized that they were going to break under the strain."

"He isn't much farther," Thomas panted. "At least, he doesn't _feel_ very much farther. I-"

As he spoke, a castle shimmered on the horizon that hadn't been there before. "Is that a mirage?" Nazali asked, coming to the front of the group and squinting into the distance.

"If it is a mirage, it is an unusual one," Nadia answered. "I assume we can all see it."

"I see it," Lucio said. "Well, why are we standing around? Let's go."

"We don't know if it's safe or not," Muriel objected.

Lucio swept a hand out over their surroundings. "_None_ of this is safe!" Lucio spat. "And the magicians are going to be _useless_ at this rate, unless we find Asra _soon_. That's the closest thing to a lead that we have right now. If it isn't real we can just go back to the Hierophant and rest and try again, but we're just wasting energy right now! Let's _go!_"

"The number of times this is being said is ridiculous, but Lucio is right," Julian said, hand on Thomas's shoulder. He was starting to shake with the strain of maintaining their bubble. "We need to do _something_. Let's go." 

Still, Muriel seemed distrustful, and Aisha asked, "Do you want to go back, Muriel?"

"No," Muriel answered, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. "Let's go."

Now that the castle was in sight, it seemed like they were traveling towards it at an incredible speed. It felt like every step they took was five, like the terrain was moving them towards the castle. Thomas couldn't help but feel like it was moving them towards their doom. In what felt like only minutes, they stood before the gates of the castle, and Thomas dropped the bubble to search for Asra again. "He's close," he said, putting a hand to the wroght iron gate. It was nearly too hot to touch. It swung open with just a little push, and Thomas looked back over the group incredulously. "Well, that's not ominous at all," Mazelinka sniffed. "Thomas, focus on keeping an eye on Asra. We'll worry about defending you if we need to."

"Hopefully you won't need to," Thomas muttered, and they entered the castle.

It was dark, weird light seeming to come from nowhere at all casting unnatural, frightening shadows around every corner and in every nook and crany around them. Thomas did as Mazelinka said, keeping his attention on Asra. He got a vague sense of danger from him, an urging to leave, but it was weak, as if Asra could barely hold onto consciousness, like it was taking all of his strength to warn them of the danger they were walking into. "He wants us to leave," Thomas announced, as they made their way through the twisting corridors.

Lucio snorted. "Tell him we're not leaving without him," he said.

"I am," Thomas replied. "He's in bad shape, guys. He feels like he's barely conscious."

They all exchanged looks. "That doesn't mean anything," Lucio said grimly, and Thomas could tell that he was trying to convince himself of it. "That could just mean that the Devil is trying to make him sleep. It doesn't necessarily mean that he's hurt."

“Why would the Devil try to make him sleep?” Portia asked, sounding horrifically worried.

“So he can’t do what he’s doing with Thomas,” Salim answered. “He’s guiding Thomas to him- whether he likes it or not. Has he stopped resisting you yet?"

"He seems to have," Thomas replied, looking down a corridor they came across. It was empty, and he gestured down it. "Come on- wait." He stopped short, eyes narrowing. "He's insisting that we leave," Thomas said finally. "He- he seems to be under some kind of duress. He really doesn't want us to find him right now."

The group looked at each other grimly. "Can you reassure him that we'll be okay?" Muriel asked. 

"I've been doing that. He doesn't believe me." Thomas closed his eyes, beginning to get frustrated. "If only I could do more than just _feel_ him- if only he could actually tell me what's waiting for us down there-"

"Isn't it obvious?" Lucio spat. "The Devil's waiting for us. And I cannot _wait_ to get down there and give him a piece of my mind. The rest of you can run away with your tails between your legs but I came here to get Asra and I'm going to do that. The rest of you are welcome to come with. What direction do I need to go?"

"We're coming with you," Aisha said immediately, looking to Thomas. Thomas nodded, and started down the new corridor. 

There was no more conversation as they followed him through the hallways and down stairs. Thomas kept his attention on Asra the whole time, trying to reassure him as they got closer and their connection got stronger. Asra was getting mroe and more frantic and insistent, until Asra's distress was all that he could feel. Their connection led them to a set of giant wooden doors, reinforced with red, glinting steel. "I think they're on the other side of this door," Thomas said in a low voice. "Are we absolutely ready to face what's in there?" At the responding nods, Thomas fixed Lucio with a look. "We're here to get Asra. We free him and we _flee_, understand? Engage the Devil to the point that you can't escape and we _will_ leave without you."

Lucio gave him a cocky grin. "Understood, Thomas. I wouldn't dream of acting alone."

Thomas somehow doubted Lucio's sincerity. It was all he was going to get out of him, though, and so he took several deep breaths, put his hands on the door, and pushed them open. 

A great chamber opened up before them, and at first, Thomas couldn't see anything, it was so dark. Then he sensed, rather than saw, Asra, and in the next moment, he heard him: "Get away! Go! I'll be fine, just _go!_"

“Not without you!” Thomas called into the darkness. “Where-“

“Thomas!” Muriel exclaimed, pointing. “His voice came from over there! Let’s-“

A deep, ominous chuckle interrupted him, and red light flooded the room. Thomas held back a gasp as the light illuminated the Devil on a great stone throne, and Asra on his knees beside him, draped in chains wrapped tightly around his body, binding his arms to his sides. His face was covered with white fur, nose elongated like a fox’s snout. Asra’s jaw clenched and he looked away as the Devil gestured to him. “He begged me to stop you before you got to this point. He’s convinced that if you saw him like this, you’d forsake him. But that makes no sense, does it? After all, you haven’t forsaken Julian.”

They all held their silence for several breathless moments before Aisha spoke. “You’re right. We would _never _forsake him. This was expected, even. And we’re not leaving without him.”

“Then you’re not leaving.” The Devil grinned and stood. “You don’t think I learned from my mistakes with Julian? I shouldn’t have left him to his own devices. I thought him too broken to even think about acting against me again. I won’t make the same mistake with Asra, whether he’s willing to be released from his deals with me or not. And it’s better this way, really. All of the thorns in my side gathered to me, where I can make sure you cause no more trouble. You played your parts in this plan beautifully.”

Lucio shook his head, drawing his sword and pointing it at the Devil. “We’re taking him back and leaving, whether you like it or not. You can’t take on all of us at once!”

The Devil gave a surprised laugh. “That coming from you of all people is rich. You don’t give a single damn about Asra and you know it.”

Lucio shrugged. “The enemy of my enemy is my friend, and I give more of a damn about him than he’s ever wanted to admit.” With that, he adjusted his stance and advanced on the Devil, his caution belying his bravado. "Thomas, Muriel, go get Asra! The rest of you, with me!"

Thomas grabbed Muriel's hand and dashed off to one side, Lucio and the others to the other. He didn't like that Lucio had decided that he was the one giving orders, but now wasn't the time to hash that out or argue with him. Muriel resisted him for a second before moving with him, off to the side, as the others tried to draw the Devil away, or at least distract him. Thomas and Muriel stood in the cover of darkness, watching for an opening, but the Devil never moved away from Asra, who watched the group in mounting anxiety, straining against his bonds. 

The Devil fended them off for a few moments before snarling, "_Enough!_" and a blast of power sent them all reeling. Lucio was the first back on his feet, but there was a deep scratch across his face, and his arm hung uselessly at his side. He passed his sword from that hand to his prosthetic as he barked at the others to get up, get to their feet and _fight_. Nadia rose with him, sword gleaming in her hand, and the Devil watched in amusement as the others dragged themselves to their feet to face off against the Devil again.

This time, however, the Devil was finished playing with them. The red light in the room darkened as black flames streamed out from behind the throne, licking up the walls, surrounding the fighters. "We have to do something!" Muriel gasped, watching the fire close in around them. 

Thomas started forward, and Muriel put a hand on his shoulder. "What are you doing?!"

"You said it! We have to do something! We can't just let-" Thomas's words cut off in a horrified gasp as the fire surrounded Asra as well. Across the room, Asra's terrified gaze met Thomas's, and this time Muriel started forward, shouting Asra's name. 

The Devil turned his attention to the two of them, advancing quickly on them all, and flicked a claw out in disdain. Chains erupted from the floor, wrapping around them, pulling them down. Thomas twisted in his bonds to grab hold of the chains and _shove_ his magic into them. The disintegrated to ash, and Thomas shook the remains off and bolted for Asra. He felt the heat from the black flames and tried to push through, but he couldn't force himself to advance further. Frantically, he reached inside of himself, pulling forth his magic and trying to smother the flames with it, but it wasn't enough. The flames raged on, closer and closer to Asra.

"What are _you_ doing here?!"

Thomas's gaze swung over to the Devil at his cry, and then searched the area for the object of his objection. Stalking forward from the door was the Magician, magic crackling in the air around them. Without answering, the Magician threw a bolt of magic at the Devil. It struck him full in the chest and he staggered backwards. The Magician got off two more shots at him before he focused his magic into a shield, blocking the fourth shot. "Thomas!" the Magician called. "Now, while he's distracted!"

Thomas looked back to Asra. He barely registered that the flames had died down before he lunged for him, fingers closing over one of the chains wrapped tightly around Asra's body. He heard Asra cry, "No, don't!" before channeling all of his magic into the chains. One link broke at first, but half a second later, the rest of them shattered in a flash of brilliant white light. Thomas staggered backwards, throwing up his hands to protect himself. A sense of dread swept over him, and he went to one knee, hand at his chest as it felt like his heart was beating far, far too fast.

"Thomas!" came Asra's agonized cry, and the next thing he knew, Asra was kneeling beside him, arms around him. 

Asra repeated his name frantically several times as Thomas's heart slowed to a more reasonable pace and his vision cleared. "I'm fine," he managed to croak.

"Oh, thank the-"

"Go!" the Magician shouted, still locked in combat with the Devil. "All of you, get out of here! Now!"

Muriel's big hands grabbed Asra and Thomas's arms and hauled them to their feet, and the three of them bolted for the rest of the group. Together, they all dashed out of the throne room, out into the hallway. "Asra!" Lucio panted. "One of you magicians! Make one of those portal things! Get us out of here!"

Aisha and Salim skidded to a halt and raised their hands together. The air before them shimmered, seemed to resist their attempts to open a door, but it finally gave in, a portal ripping open in the air. "Hurry!" Salim yelled. Thomas grabbed hold of Julian's hand and yanked him through the portal, not stopping until they were several feet away. Thomas turned back to it then, watching as the rest of the group tumbled through, and the portal snapped shut behind them. 


	14. Chapter 14

The group laid on the ground, panting. Nadia was the first to get up. "Let's make sure we have everyone. Asra?"

From somewhere to Thomas's right, Asra's tired voice called back, "Here."

As Nadia went through the people in the group, they dragged themselves to their feet, feeling battered and bruised. Asra made his way back to Thomas, and he felt Asra's magic sweep over him. "I'm fine, Asra. Really."

"I need to be sure. Just- just humor me."

Thomas sighed, looking Asra over. Gone was the monstrous visage, replaced entirely by Asra's human face. Even the fox ears and tail were gone. "Are _you_ alright?" Thomas asked quietly.

"I will be once I'm certain you are." Thomas was quiet at that, Muriel's comment about Thomas having broken Asra's heart resounding in his head. 

The others were talking amongst themselves quietly, waiting for Asra to do what he needed to, and Thomas took a deep breath, and said, "Muriel said something to me that's been bothering me."

"Done." Asra let out a sharp, relieved breath, and looked up into Thomas's eyes. "What's that?"

"He said that I- that I broke your heart."

Asra stared at him, and then looked away. "You don't need to worry about that."

"I- I do. Asra, I do. I never wanted to hurt-"

"And you didn't." Asra looked back at him solemnly, earnestly. "I love you. I always have, and I always will. Muriel's wrong. My heart wasn't broken, I was worried about you. You know I have a history with Julian, and I assume you know by now that it didn't end well. He's changed and I'm not worried about that anymore. I'm happy for you- both of you. You fit so well together." He frowned. "Could've done without him sacrificing his soul to the Devil, but you can't win every battle, and he's here now, trying to fix things. You didn't 'break my heart', Thomas."

Thomas exhaled sharply in relief. "I'm glad." He held out his arms to Asra and Asra went to him, enveloping him in a tight embrace.

Asra held him for a moment longer before pulling away. "You know what would've broken my heart, though? If you'd died freeing me. Do _not_ put yourself at risk for me like that again, do you understand me? I'd rather die than lose you _again_."

"I know that your first deal was for my life," Thomas said slowly, "but none of us knew what you gave up for it."

Asra heaved a great sigh. "I gave up half of my heart." As Thomas paled, Asra gave a slight smirk. "I see you understand why I thought you'd die if you freed me. I'm glad I was wrong."

"You gave up half of your heart? Where did it go?"

"I think it went to you. You needed a heart to live, after all. And if freeing me set me back to how I was before that deal- if it took your heart from you-" Asra sighed and looked away again.

"It obviously didn't," Thomas said in what he hoped was a reassuring voice. "I'm alright, Asra- and you're safe now."

"I'm afraid that's not true," Salim said, coming up to them. Every set of eyes turned to him. "We know we don't stand a chance against the Devil as things are now. Unless something changes, and drastically at that, he'll wipe us out the next time we face him."

Silence met him. Finally, Nazali said, "Let's go back to the Hierophant's realm. Asra, you have a strong connection to the Magician, right?" At Asra's nod, they said, "Then you should know if something happens to them. The best thing for us to do is to get far away from this place and wait for the Magician to return."

"I do believe they're right," Lucio said. "Hey, Aisha, Salim- can you do what you did to get us out of the Devil's castle? Except take us back to the Hierophant?"

Aisha shook her head. "That took everything out of us."

Lucio made a face. "Asra? Thomas?"

"Are you kidding?" Muriel objected. "After what Asra's just been through, and what Thomas did to free him?"

Thomas could tell that Lucio was dreadfully close to a temper tantrum. So did Mazelinka. "I think Pasha and I might be able to do it, if one of the more experienced magicians can guide us through it."

"I can do that," Asra said immediately, standing. He swayed on his feet, and Muriel lurched forward, hands going to Asra's body to steady him. Asra put his hands against Muriel's arms, breathing deeply as Thomas stood as well, looking concerned. "I'm alright," he said in a thin voice, "but I'll be better once we're safe and can rest. Are you ready, Mazelinka? Portia?"

The two women nodded, and Asra talked them through opening a portal, much like the one that Asra's parents had ripped open in their haste to get away from the Devil. In several minutes, the two of them opened up another portal, this one steady, and Thomas could see the Hierophant's great hall on the other side. After a few moments, the Hierophant's curious face appeared in it, and Thomas smiled. "Let's go home and rest."

Portia and Mazelinka held the portal open for the others as they went through it, and came out on the other side. Thomas leaned on Julian as Asra leaned on Muriel, and Portia and Mazelinka came through once the others were all present, and closed the portal behind them. "I see the operation was a success," the Hierophant said, smiling. "Welcome back, Asra." Asra lifted a hand in greeting and let it fall back to his side, looking terribly exhausted.

The Hierophant noticed. "You all look like you desperately need sleep. Did the Magician reach you, or did you rescue yourselves?"

"The Magician reached us," Asra answered. "I can't rest until I know they're alright."

"I'm afraid you may not have a choice. You look like death warmed over."

"I'm fine."

"No, you're not," Julian immediately contradicted, crossing his arms over his chest and glaring down at him. "First you get kicked in the head, then you get bound to the Devil- if any of us needs rest, it's you. You're going to bed and I don't want to hear another word about it." Much to Thomas's surprise, Asra simply rubbed his eyes as he nodded, face downcast. 

"I'm going to insist that the rest of you get some sleep as well," the Hierophant said. "The Magician is more than capable of taking care of themself, especially with their current mortal representation free of the Devil's influence."

"Wait, what?" Lucio's eyes went wide. "His current _what?"_

"I agree with Lucio for a change," Asra said, eyes as wide as Lucio's. "I'm their _what_ now?"

"You are his current mortal representation," the Hierophant repeated, eyes crinkling with amusement. "It merely means that you're the mortal being closest to his Arcana- as Valerius is to me, for example." Everyone looked to Asra, and the Hierophant chuckled. "There is no need to act so star-struck. All of you but Mazelinka are similarly entwined with an Arcana, as are all of the Satrinava family."

"So, wait," Asra said, and Thomas could see the gears turning in his head. "Wait, that means that Lucio is-" 

He cut himself off, staring at Lucio. Lucio stared back blankly, until a slow, sinister grin spread across Asra's face. "No. Absolutely not."

"What? Lucio's what?" Portia asked.

"Lucio is likely the Devil's mortal representation," Asra answered. "If we can figure out how to exploit that-"

Lucio put his hands up in a defensive gesture. "Oh no. I'm not letting you bind me or- or do anything that's going to hurt! I-"

"We wouldn't actually _hurt_ you and none of the damage we _might_ do would be permanent. And Dad said it perfectly- we don't stand a chance in hell against the Devil as we are now. If we can weaken him through you, somehow-"

"I said no!" Lucio snapped.

"Lucio," Nadia tried, "we know that the Arcana can be weakened through deals with the Devil. Perhaps if you made deals with another Arcana-"

"What in the world would I make a deal with another Arcana for? And which one?"

“Oh, I’m sure we could think of something.”

“Let’s all brainstorm while we rest,” Aisha suggested. “I want to be near Asra. I’m not satisfied that he’s entirely well after that.”

“Mom-“

“I agree,” Salim interjected. “We were just reunited and we nearly lost you again. Let us make sure you’re alright, Asra. Please.”

“Only because I’m too tired to argue,” Asra muttered, letting go of Muriel. Muriel kept his hands on Asra’s shoulders until Asra walked away, to his parents’ open arms.

The group drifted to their rooms, with Nadia and Nazali rooming with Portia and Mazelinka. Thomas insisted on seeing everyone safely to their rooms before turning to the room he shared with Julian.

Julian sat on the edge of the bed as Thomas came in and closed the door behind him. “I’m glad we were able to save him,” Julian said quietly, looking away. “I care more about him than I want to.”

“Honestly, I think the feeling is mutual.” Thomas sat next to him on the bed. “I know you two apologized to each other, but I would like to see you rebuild your friendship, too.”

“Once all of this is over, we’ll talk,” Julian promised, holding out his arms. Thomas let him fold him in a tight embrace as he said, “For now, let’s just get some sleep.”

* * *

When they awoke, Asra was completely recovered from his ordeal, and they discovered the Magician with the Hierophant, as well. Asra greeted them gratefully, thanking them for their intervention in the Devil’s realm. “Even if you weren’t as special as you are, I’d have come for you,” the Magician said, a smile on his lips. “I’ve known you since you were a small child. I’m quite fond of you.”

Asra’s face colored and he murmured something Thomas couldn’t hear. The Magician’s smile grew, but instead of addressing Asra further, he said, “The Hierophant has told me of your plan. I think it will work. It certainly wouldn’t cause any harm to make a few deals with Lucio- provided that you trust him, of course.”

Lucio frowned. “I’m not sure if I want to start with the deals thing or the trust thing.”

“Let me address the trust thing first,” Nadia said quickly. “I can’t speak for anyone else, but after your assistance in freeing Asra, I’m willing to trust you.”

Lucio’s scowl turned to a charismatic smile. “I told you, I’m on your side. I’m glad you finally believe me.” Then the scowl dropped back over his features. “But I’m still not putting myself through what I went through with the Devil. No way.”

The Magician fixed him with an inscrutable smile. “Not even for magic?”

Again, the scowl dropped away. “What’s this now?”

“I can make a deal with you to increase your magical abilities. You’ve always had a fascination with the arcane, haven’t you? But you’ve never been able to create so much as a candle flame. That could change, Lucio. I can give you the magical abilities you’ve always wanted.”

Thomas could see desire warring with suspicion. “What would it cost me?”

The Magician tapped his chin, feigning thoughtfulness. “It wouldn’t cost you much... you’d just never be able to use your abilities for your own advancement.”

“For my own-“

“You’d only be able to use it selflessly,” Asra said slowly. “That wraps things up nicely. Give you something you’ve always wanted, weaken the Devil, and ensure that you don’t abandon us when things get tough.”

“_Hey,_” Lucio protested. “Things got pretty tough when facing the Devil. If I didn’t abandon you then-“

“That’s what you took from that?” Asra seemed amused.

“Both of you, focus,” Nazali said, not taking her gaze off Lucio. “Well? Is this something you might want?”

Lucio made a greedy noise, but still hesitated. “Will one single deal be enough to weaken the Devil?”

“Perhaps, perhaps not,” the Magician replied. “It will certainly weaken him, although to what extent isn’t known. However, keep in mind that while he will weaken to some extent, you will be strengthened. That little bit might be enough to rip the scales in your favor. It is worth a shot, in any case.” The Magician held out a hand. “Do we have a deal?”

Lucio stared down at the Magician’s hand for several seconds. “What have you got to lose?” Asra quietly urged. “I’ll even teach you how to use it.”

Lucio's gaze flicked to Asra, then back down to the Magician's outstretched hand. "What the hell," Lucio muttered, and grabbed it. The Magician smiled as golden and violet threads wrapped around Lucio's body, and a mark flared to life on the back of Lucio's hand. Thomas had seen that mark before, on Julian's throat. 

Julian and Thomas looked at each other as they both saw it, and then back at the others. "That mark," Julian said slowly. "I had one just like it- it had limited power. Does that mean-"

"It does not," the Magician said. "The Hanged Man released you from your deal with him, and that's why the mark lost its power after its final feat of bringing you back to life. I have no intention of releasing Lucio from this deal. Ever. He's bound to limit his selfish behavior now and he has no way out of it."

"Hey!" Lucio protested. "What do you mean, I'm bound to limit my 'selfish behavior'?! I'm the most selfless person I know!" Asra laughed loud and hard, and Lucio glared at him. "I took you in when you had nowhere else to go, you brat!"

"And you made my life hell for it," Asra retorted, wiping laughter-tearing eyes, "_and_ told me that my parents were dead. Do you _really_ want to have this argument with _me_, of all people?"

"With any of us," Nadia said pointedly. "You most certainly are _not_ selfless, Lucio. I suggest you do some real introspection, if you're even capable of it."

"I am _more _than capable of introspection." Lucio was almost pouting. "Alright, alright, so maybe I was out of line telling you your parents were dead, Asra." Aisha cleared her throat, and he grimaced. "And maybe I shouldn't have helped the Devil imprison you in the first place."

"I think you have something to say to Muriel, while you're at it," Asra said mildly, smirking.

"Save it," Muriel said immediately, not giving Lucio a chance to answer. "I'm not interested in his apologies and I don't accept any he might give."

The pout left Lucio's face, replaced by a grimace, a softening that none of them were accustomed to seeing. He murmured something none of them could hear; did he actually regret what he'd done to Muriel? Thomas knew better than to ask. Muriel had already made his wishes known, and it looked like Lucio would respect that, even if he genuinely felt that he deserved the apology. "You said you'd teach me, Asra."

"I certainly did." Asra's voice was dry, and he stood and stretched. "Come with me out into the fields. We're going to be playing with fire, and I don't want to be near anything that will burn down if it catches."

"We'll come with you," Salim said, as he and Aisha stood.

Asra shook his head. "I'll be fine alone. I know how to handle this and I know how to handle him."

"You're never going to trust me, are you?" Lucio whined.

"Never say never, but you've got a long way to go for that. Let's go get this over with."

They watched the two of them go out the door and into the vineyard, and the Magician and the Hierophant turned back to the others. "I suggest you take out Valdemar before going after the Devil," the Hierophant said. "Lucio, Asra, and Julian desperately wounded them, but they're still a force to be reckoned with. You don't want them to decide to approach you when you're exhausted from your battle with the Devil."

"Our battle with the Devil," Thomas repeated, then turned his gaze to the Magician. "How did you get away?"

The Magician shrugged. "Once I sensed that you were out of his realm, I simply left. There isn't much that we Arcana can do against each other, directly anyway- we need a mortal agent, much as the Devil was using the courtiers against their respective Arcana. And believe you me, I fully intend on using Lucio against the Devil."

“How does that work?” Nadia asked. “From what you’ve all told me, it took quite number of deals for it to do significant damage to the other Arcana.”

“That’s true,” the Hierophant said thoughtfully. 

“That’s not the only deal I can make with him,” the Magician said. “There are other things he wants that I can grant him. Once he realizes I’m not like the Devil, I’ll propose those other deals.” 

“I’m curious,” Muriel said disdainfully. “What can you offer someone like him that he’d actually want? More power is not surprising, but anything else you can offer?”

The Magician shrugged. “For example, Lucio is barely literate. His life up until he became the count of Vesuvia didn’t require that he learn to read and write, and after that point he had people to read important documents to him. But he’s always wished he could do more than the basics. I can give him that knowledge. All it will cost him is his habit of puffery.”

“It sounds like you’re trying to trick him into being a better person,” Nazali observed.

“Ah, you see, it isn’t so much that I have nothing to offer him. I do. It’s that he has nothing to offer _me. _The closest thing that he has that I might even distantly want is for him to be a good person. He’s capable of it, but he’s going to need a little help getting there. Hence, his end of these deals.”

“Lucio will never be a good person,” Muriel said, standing. Then he left the room, the others watching him go.

“I’m guessing there’s history that I don’t know,” Mazelinka said finally. 

“You could say that,” Nadia replied with a sigh. “I’ll explain it to you later. For now, do either of you know where Valdemar fled to?”

“They went to Death’s realm,” the Hierophant said. “Just as soon as you’re all rested and Asra has Lucio somewhat proficient in the basics of his new powers, I will send you there. For now, you all still need rest. Facing the Devil put an immense amount of strain on you all. Focus on recouping your strength. You’re safe here.”


	15. Chapter 15

One minute Thomas was with the others, and the next minute, he was in the library in the palace. 

He looked around warily, tense and at attention. He knew he was meant to be somewhere else, but he couldn’t think of where he was supposed to be. A dark memory trickled in the back of his mind. This felt just like the nightmare Valdemar had used to try to break him and Julian. “It’s not going to work!” Thomas called into the darkness. 

Hissing laughter filled his senses as the library shifted and twisted, until he was in pure blackness. He knew now where he was: Death’s realm. And Asra, Julian, Nazali, Nadia, Portia, Mazelinka, and Lucio were with him- or they were supposed to be. He had no idea where they were now. He had no idea how to get out of where he was, either. But there seemed to be solid ground beneath his feet, so he started walking.

He had no concept of place or time in this absolute darkness. He moved cautiously, expecting to run into something at any moment, or maybe the ground would give out beneath him. He stopped when it took longer for his foot to reach ground and yanked back, falling onto his backside. He sat there for a while, how long he wasn't sure of. Long enough to calm the pounding of his heart. When he could breathe again, he dragged himself up onto his knees and felt for the gap in the floor. He found it after only a few moments, his palm hitting nothing but thin air, and he pulled back again, crawling alongside the line he'd found, looking for a way around. Again, he wasn't sure how long he did that, but after what felt like hours, he sat back again, stretching his magic out around him. 

Julian's presence reached back, questioning, searching. He felt terrified. Thomas did his best to reassure him as he tried to figure out where, exactly, Julian was. He gulped as he realized he was down whatever pit he'd encountered. But he wasn't going to leave Julian alone in here, as scared as he was, and so he sat back and dangled his legs over the edge he could only feel, took three deep breaths, and let himself slide off the edge.

He knew he was falling, but it didn't _feel_ like he was falling. It felt like he was floating, gently drifting downward. Soon there was a point of light below him, growing bigger and brighter as he descended. It rushed up to meet him, and as the light engulfed him, he accelerated, landing on his feet with a _thud_. He bit back a yell of pain, sitting down where he landed, and looking around. Julian was staring at him, eyes wide. "Thomas? Is it really you?"

"That depends," Thomas replied, the pain in his legs already fading. "Where were we when we faced Valdemar before all this started?"

Julian looked at him like he'd gone mad. "What do you mean?"

"Never mind, it's you." Thomas got to his feet and moved to embrace him. Julian enfolded him in his arms, his wings going around him protectively. 

But Julian wasn't done. "And what do you mean by _that?_"

"If you were Valdemar, you'd have answered me," Thomas replied. "After everything that's happened, I wouldn't have expected you to actually remember."

“Do you remember?” 

“I think it was the shop. Or rather, a dilapidated version of it.”

He felt Julian relax. “And now I know that you’re you.”

As Julian backed away, Thomas realized that Julian had been cradling his head in an odd way. “Julian?” he prompted, heart hammering in his chest.

“I’m sorry. I’d never hurt you, I hope you know that. I just... didn’t know if it was you or not.”

“That’s fair enough, I guess.” Thomas suppressed a shiver at how close he’d just come to having his neck snapped. He couldn’t blame Julian for his suspicions. After all, Thomas had been prepared to burn Julian to a crisp if he hadn’t been satisfied that it was him. 

It was a moot situation. Thomas hadn't set Julian on fire and Julian hadn’t broken Thomas’s neck. They were alright. “Where are we?” Julian asked.

“I think we’re still in Death’s realm,” Thomas answered. “When I woke up I was in the palace, but it didn’t fool me like it did last time we were here. I think Valdemar was trying the same trick they tried last time.”

“It almost worked on me,” Julian said, his voice haunted. 

“Then they’re probably doing the same thing to the others.” Thomas took a deep breath, closing his eyes. “Take my hands, Julian. We’re going to track them down.”

Julian obeyed, and Thomas felt Julian’s magic, faint but present, flow into him. He could sense Asra easily, their lives intertwined as they were; from Julian, he found Portia, a bright, angry presence. “She’s not happy about something,” Julian murmured.

“I can tell.” Thomas opened his eyes at the same time as Julian. “Asra is more confused than anything else. I think he knows the nightmare isn’t real, he just doesn’t know how to break free of it.”

“Think we can leave him to his own devices while we find Pasha?”

“I think he’ll be fine. I don’t think Portia knows that she’s dreaming. Freeing those who aren’t sure of reality takes precedence. You nearly killed me for the nightmare, after all.”

“Thomas, I’m sorry- I- I-“

Thomas threw his arms around Julian’s neck, smiling up at him. “I’m not angry. I’m not even a little upset. You didn’t know any better, and you didn’t hurt me. We’re alright.”

Julian smiled in return, kissing him lightly. “Thank you. Although I’m not sure about us being alright.”

“You know what I meant.” He kissed his nose, then backed off. “Let’s go find your sister.”

They headed off into the darkness together. Thomas kept his magic summoned to him, following the bright light that was Portia, hoping they’d find the others, or at least Mazelinka with her.

It didn’t take long for the darkness to give way to the deck of a huge ship. Julian and Thomas moved cautiously, eyes darting around suspiciously. “I hear fighting from the bow of the ship,” Julian said. He puffed up as Thomas gathered his magic to him. Prepared now, they advanced again. 

As they came to the end of the impossibly long ship, they saw the fight: Mazelinka, Portia, and Nahara fought off a bunch of skeletons, draped in pirate garb and wielding serrated cutlasses. It only took Thomas a second to figure out what was wrong. “Portia!” he screamed. “Mazelinka! _Nahara isn’t here! _None of this is real!”

“Thomas?!” Portia looked up at him, surprise on her face. The distraction cost her; one of the skeletons landed a hit on her arm, ripping a livid gash open. 

“It might not be real, but those swords are!” Mazelinka shouted back, desperately fending off two attackers.

“I thought you’d need the extra help,” Nahara grunted, throwing a skeleton overboard, “and it looks like I was right!”

“You’re not real,” Julian snarled back, and we’ll show you!” With that, Julian seized Thomas’s hand. For once, his magic was active when it joined with Thomas’s, and Thomas understood what he meant to do the moment their magic mingled. He took the lead, pulling their magic up and through himself. Once they had pooled enough power, Thomas let it go, arching towards the fight in a brilliant flash. The skeletons burned away, leaving Portia, Mazelinka, and Nahara standing there.

Portia and Mazelinka blinked at them, their chests heaving from the effort of the fight. “Boy, am I glad you found us,” Portia said, her voice tight with pain as she gripped her still-bleeding arm. “Who knows what would’ve happened if that went on for very much longer.”

“Portia’s right,” Nahara said, almost painfully calm. “They might not have been real but the wounds they inflicted were.”

Thomas gazed at Nahara in confusion. “I know you’re not real,” he murmured, “but our spell should have destroyed you. I don’t understand...”

“Something isn’t right,” Julian said, face darkening. “The illusions that held Thomas and I faded to blackness once we were wise to them. Why are we still on this giant ship?”

Mazelinka’s expression darkened as well. “One of us isn’t real. Who is it?”

They stared at each other, tense. Thomas knew that Julian was real, but Nahara hadn't disappeared with the rest of the illusions- and he had no way of confirming the identity of Portia or Mazelinka, either. Finally, Portia spoke, slowly, "You weren't injured at all, Nahara. And you're not even breathing hard."

Nahara looked surprised. "I am a trained martial artist. You know this, Portia."

She shook her head, advancing on her. "I've seen you fight before. You haven't even broken a sweat, and this was _much_ harder than the fight we were in together."

Nahara opened her mouth to reply, when suddenly Portia lunged for her, magic in her hands. She slashed down across Nahara's abdomen, slashing a shallow cut across her chest. Instead of blood, shadows leaked from it, and Nahara's eyes went wide in the second before Portia, magic flaring in her fist, punched through Nahara's stomach. The phantom screamed once and then dissipated. A moment later, the ship faded from existence, leaving them in total blackness.

Portia and Mazelinka stared at the spot Nahara had been before turning to Thomas and Julian. "Thank you," Mazelinka said. "We didn't know how much longer we'd have been able to hold out against those creatures, whatever they were. What _were_ they?"

"Shadows," Thomas answered back. "One of you is afraid of ghost ships, I'd be willing to bet."

At that, Mazelinka's face flushed. "I've encountered a few in my time. They're never easy to deal with."

"What did you two see?" Portia asked.

Quickly, the two of them explained their nightmares, with Thomas following up with, "I should've been able to predict that Valdemar would try the same trick twice. I'm sorry. But right now, we have to find the others. They'll be trapped in nightmares like yours, and we're going to have to help them wake up. Come on. We thought we sensed Asra in the other direction."

Together, they started walking. They were mostly silent but for their footsteps and breathing, punctuated every once in a while by one of them asking if the others were alright.

After a short distance, Thomas stopped short, listening. The others stopped and turned back to him. "What is it?" Portia asked.

"Shh." They all fell silent as Thomas strained to hear. "Do any of you hear that?" he whispered.

At that, the others started listening too. "I hear it," Julian replied grimly. "That's Nazali."

"They're crying."

"We need to find them, fast," Thomas said. "I think it's coming from... over there, somewhere?"

They all turned in the direction Thomas indicated, and Julian nodded. "I think it's coming from there, too. Are you ladies in agreement?"

"I'm not a lady," Mazelinka sniffed, "but yes, I agree. Let's go."

As Thomas started walking, he turned and looked in the direction he'd felt Asra from. He surrepitously used his magic to check on him; no change in demeanor, except maybe a litle more frustrated than he was before. He exhaled sharply, looking forward, hoping that they could release Nazali quickly, as quickly as they'd released Mazelinka and Portia.

As had happened before, the blackness around them shifted to another scene, this time in the palace. Bright light lit their steps as they mounted them. "We're heading for Milady's wing," Portia said, tension in her voice. "I hope nothing's happened to her. That's the only thing I can think of that could make Nazali cry."

No one said anything to that. Thomas had a sinking feeling that was exactly what had happened. He didn't know what they were going to do if Nadia had been incapacitated or, gods forbid, killed. He knew only that Valdemar was going to suffer for every bit of suffering they put them through. Thomas was done trying to be the good guy. Valdemar- and the Devil- had been through so much already, and they obviously had no regard for the suffering they were inflicting.

Julian sensed Thomas's dark thoughts and glanced down at him. "Are you okay?" he asked quietly.

"No. I'm not," Thomas replied darkly. "I'm sick of all of this. There's going to be a reckoning and I don't care how much we hurt Valdemar anymore."

Julian was quiet for several seconds, and then: "Don't lose your humanity to this, please. The Thomas I love _does_ care how much pain he inflicts. I don't want to lose you."

Thomas reached out and pulled Julian to a stop. Portia and Mazelinka looked back at them curiously. "Keep going," Thomas said. They nodded and resumed walking, and Thomas turned to Julian. "Don't tell me _you_ care about Valdemar."

"I don't. Believe me, I _don't_. The things they made me do when we were researching the plague..." A shudder ran through him at the memory. "But no matter how inhuman Valdemar is, I still am- and so are you."

"Are you going to be this forgiving if Valdemar's seriously hurt or killed Nadia?"

Julian flinched. "We don't know that's what's happened."

"You're avoiding the question." 

With a sigh, Julian pulled Thomas into a tight embrace. "I love you," he murmured. "Please don't do this to me."

Thomas returned the embrace, his mind in turmoil. "I can promise you that I won't kill or hurt needlessly," he said finally. "But I'm not going to agonize over it if they give me no choice in the matter. If it's their life or one of ours, I'm taking theirs."

"That- that's fine, I suppose," Julian replied, pulling away slightly. He bent and kissed him, and Thomas kissed back, relief fluttering in his chest. The thought that Thomas could’ve lost Julian because his patience with this mess had run out was jarring and frightening. Julian was everything to him; if he lost his reason to fight...

“Thomas? Are you okay?”

“No. But I will be, once this is all done with.”

Julian sighed and took his hand carefully in his as they walked. “Come on, we better hurry up. We don’t want to get separated from Mazelinka and Pasha.”

Thomas nodded in agreement, and they both picked up the pace. 

They caught up to the women quickly; Portia cast a concerned glance in their direction, but said nothing about their conversation. “Here is Milady’s rooms,” she whispered. They could hear Nazali speaking softly between sobs. Thomas swallowed back his trepidation and knocked firmly; Nazali’s voice quieted immediately, and then: “Who’s there?!”

“It’s us,” Julian called back. “We’re coming in.”

He didn’t wait for Nazali to respond, grabbing the door handle and turning it. They emerged into Nadia’s room, Nadia laying on her bed, Nazali sitting beside her. “Valdemar attacked us,” they said, forcing their voice to be even. “Nadia stepped in front of me. Their attack hit her full force, and a Valdemar told me that she’s as good as dead, but I can’t find any wounds- nothing! It’s like when she was in her three-year coma, except her vital signs keep declining.”

Thomas and Portia went to Nadia’s other side, Thomas’s magic stretching out to cover her, searching. "Asra or his parents would be nice right about now," Thomas said nervously, trying to pinpoint what exactly had happened. 

"Can you figure it out?" Julian asked.

"I- I'm not sure. I can't sense anything that should be keeping her unconscious. I can- this is a dream. We only need to convince her that it's a dream, and she should wake up. But how do we..."

Thomas's voice trailed off, frowning. "If you're going to do something to help her, you need to do it fast," Nazali said urgently. "Her pulse is already too slow."

He took a deep breath. "I'm going to try something," he said, sitting on the edge of the bed. "It'll be like when we went to the Hanged Man's realm together, Julian. Except I'm going in alone. You need to keep watch over me. Don't let anything disturb me. I don't know what this is going to do in the merged world, and if I do this wrong, we could both end up lost."

Julian sat down next to him. "I'll keep you safe. Please, _please_ be careful."

"I will be." Thomas leaned over and kissed him, lingering. He was terrified; this was so dangerous. He wished that Asra was there to guide him, but Asra was still trapped in his own nightmare, away from them. Thomas could only hope that this worked, that he didn't end up floating endlessly in some space between the realms and oblivion. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, letting himself sink away from the twisted reality of Valdemar's nightmares, and into Nadia's.


	16. Chapter 16

Darkness greeted Thomas, but it was different than the darkness of Death's realm, different than the darkness of the nightmares. "Nadia?" Thomas called out hesitantly, turning this way and that. No answer. He turned a few more times, trying to get a sense for where he was, searching for anyone who might be in the darkness with him. He got a vague, unsettling sense that he wasn't alone. He called Nadia's name again, and cringed as he got a response, a child's whisper, echoing through the darkness. _Who are you?_

"My name is Thomas," he called back, eyes scanning the darkness frantically. "Is that you, Nadia?"

_My mother tells me not to talk to strange adults._ But there was a deep curiosity in her voice, one that told him that she very much wanted to talk to him. 

"I'm a friend," he said into the darkness. "Come out. I'll take you home."

_I am home_.

He blinked at that. Well, this got a lot trickier than he hoped. He could count the number of times he'd personally interacted with children on one hand- that he remembered. For all he knew, he was great with kids before his death, but that didn't change the fact that in the last three years, he'd had no reason to talk to children. From the time he had clear memory, Asra always handled any children who came by the shop, at first to prevent things from getting uncomfortable or overwhelming for Thomas, and then simply because that was the habit that had formed. 

He considered his next words very carefully: "Are you sure about that? It looks like we're in a scary dark place right now. Your sibling Nazali is very, very worried about you, Nadia."

_Nazali? _Now there was doubt in her voice. _How do you know Nazali?_

"I know all of your sisters. Nasmira, Nahara, Navra... I know your parents, too. Nasrin and Namar. Isn't that right?"

_... yes. But if you know me, why don't I know you?_

Thomas closed his eyes. "You _do _know me, Nadia. We're friends. Good ones. We're trying to- we're trying to save the world, with the rest of our friends. But we can’t do it without you.”

_I don’t know if you’re telling the truth. It’s safe here. Why don’t you stay here with me for a while?_

Thomas bit back frustration. Nadia didn’t have the time to waste away here. Every second they were there, Nadia was slipping further away from them. He had to think of some way to convince her, and fast. 

A voice in the dark answered his desperate thoughts. “He speaks the truth, young one.”

_High Priestess?_

The owl-headed figure came into focus as he watched. “Nadia, you are trapped in a dream,” the High Priestess called out into the dark. “Your friends are relying on you. You must wake up.”

There was silence for a moment. “But can I rely on them?”

Her voice was fuller, more present than it had been. “I came for you,” Thomas answered. “Nazali was in tears for fear for you. Julian, Portia, Mazelinka- they’re all waiting for you. There’s Asra and Lucio, too, and both of them would want you to wake up. Come back to us, Nadia. Come back with me.”

A little girl appeared in the darkness, long twilight hair trailing down her back. She moved hesitantly, looking up at Thomas with something like fear. "I don't want to," she whimpered, hiding behind the High Priestess. "It's scary. It's all too scary."

"It's very scary," Thomas admitted, "but it's less scary when you have other people there to look out for you, right? We're here to look out for you. You don't have to be afraid." He stretched out a hand. "Please, Nadia."

Nadia stared at his hand like it could bite her, then up at the High Priestess. The High Priestess smiled back. "It's alright, young one. He will bring you to safety. If you cannot trust him, then trust me."

THat seemed to be what Nadia needed to hear. She toddled out from behind the High Priestess, and reached for Thomas's hand. The moment their fingers touched, Thomas opened his eyes to darkness, broken only by the bright presences of his friends. He watched anxiously as Nadia's breathing evened out, and her eyes slid open. She stared up into their worried faces for a few seconds before groaning, closing her eyes and covering her face with her hands. "Thank you, Thomas," she said after a moment, "although this _is_ quite frightening, I didn't realize I needed the help in coping with it. Were you hurt, Nazali?"

"No," Nazali answered, helping her sit up. "Valdemar seemed satisfied that if they removed you from the picture, it would remove me from it as well. How are you feeling?"

"I need a few minutes. I feel disoriented. Hello, Julian, Mazelinka... Portia." 

Nadia reached for Portia's hands, and Portia took them, drawing close. "Oh, Milady- we were so scared we were going to lose you- and then Thomas went to go find you and he was gone for a long time and we thought we were going to lose him too, and- and-"

Nadia embraced her. "It is alright. We're both conscious now." She rocked her, stroking her hair, something that both Nazali and Julian watched in interest. Portia noticed the attention before Nadia did and pulled away. That's when Nadia noticed the looks they were giving them, and cleared her throat. "I do not see Asra and Lucio."

Julian and Thomas looked at each other. "We have a vague idea of where Asra is," Thomas answered, "or rather, where he _was_. He was getting increasingly frustrated when we altered course to find you. Now that you and Nazali have been found and are well, we _need_ to find him. I hope that if we find Asra, we'll find Lucio, but if we don't, that's just one more person to help us find Lucio."

"Agreed," Nadia said, as she and Portia helped each other stand. "Lead on, Thomas. We are with you."

Thomas led the group back through the darkness, heading in the direction that he felt Asra in. Frustration had given in to anger and fear, and it radiated to them like a furnace. "Whatever's going on, we have to get to him _quickly," _Thomas said, relaying what he felt from Asra. 

Nadia and Portia looked at each other in alarm. "That kind of anger doesn't sound like Asra," Portia said, putting a hand to her mouth. "You're right, we need to hurry!"

As had happened with Nadia and Nazali and Portia and Mazelinka, the pitch darkness gave way to a different environment. This time, they were in a snowy forest; snow drifted down around them soundlessly. Thomas shivered, drifting closer to Julian, who warped an arm around his shoulders and pulled him close.

They walked in silence for a few minutes. “How are we going to find them in all of this?” Nazali asked, their voice muffled by the snowdrifts around them. 

“Asra!” Portia yelled out. Her voice echoed back to them, and then it was silent again. “Thomas, can you still feel him?”

Thomas closed his eyes, reaching for his connection with Asra. “He’s still here,” he announced, “but he just shut me out. Something's happening.”

“Could you establish a direction?” Nadia asked.

Thomas pointed off into a corpse of trees. “Somewhere in that direction.”

“Let’s go,” Mazelinka said urgently, and the group took off running.

* * *

Asra gritted his teeth when he felt Thomas’s presence in his mind. He could only spare a moment of hasty reassurance before forcibly breaking the connection. He had to focus now. Lucio had disagreed with him about how to best handle their imprisonment. He had disagreed that they were even imprisoned at all. Asra could feel the magic in the air; he knew that there was something going on that they couldn’t immediately see. But Lucio insisted that he’d known better than Asra, and stormed off. 

That had been fine with Asra, at the time. He didn’t want Lucio around anyway. But now that his temper had time to cool, and he’d had a chance to explore the magic around him, he was certain that letting Lucio go off on his own had been a mistake. This was Valdemar’s magic, and they were swimming in it. If Valdemar found either of them alone, they were done for. He had to find Lucio, and fast. For all the animosity between them, Asra didn’t actually wish Lucio ill- and Asra would be just as dead if Valdemar found him alone. He was positive that even together, they didn’t stand a chance, but that chance dropped to nothing if they faced Valdemar alone. He had to find him. 

Asra closed his eyes, searching. He found Thomas again first, and turned his footsteps in his direction. Thomas was the key to defeating Valdemar for good; it only made sense for him to meet up with him as quickly as possible, and they may be able to find a Lucio faster, together.

He stopped short as he heard the crunch of footsteps in the snow. Fighting down panic, he cast his magic outward, searching, praying that whoever was approaching him was Lucio. His blood ran cold as he realized who it was. 

Valdemar. 

He squared his shoulders and summoned his ice spear to his hands, taking several deep, calming breaths. If he was going down, he was going to do as much damage as he could before it happened, give the others a better shot at taking Valdemar down. 

Seconds later, Valdemar appeared from the trees. “Well well well,” Valdemar said, grinning broadly. “You thought you could hide from me? You’re even more arrogant than I remember.”

Asra scowled, holding his spear defensively. “You’re just lucky that you found me before I found my friends.”

“Oh? I thought you knew- your friends have all been dealt with. There’s only you, and I defeated you once already. I can do it again.”

Asra barked out a startled, disgusted laugh. “We’re remembering that very differently, Valdemar.”

“What? What are you-“

“As I recall, my friends and I drove you off. I may not be able to do it alone but I can make you wish you hadn’t attacked me.”

Valdemar’s eyes narrowed as Asra’s stance shifted, preparing to run at them. Asra felt a magical shift in the air, and then Valdemar gasped. “Asra!”

“Stop playing games!” Asra snarled, and leveled his weapon at Valdemar, running at them. 

Something fell to the snow next to Valdemar- a sword. “Asra, stop! It’s me! It’s Lucio! I’m not Valdemar! Asra! _Asr-“_

Asra heard him, but didn’t understand. In the space of seconds, confusion gripped Asra before understanding of what was happening dawned on him. He checked his blow, a second too late. The spear pierced Valdemar’s abdomen, drawing a pained grunt from them; a moment later, the illusion shattered, leaving Asra staring wide-eyed at Lucio, Lucio’s hands gripping the end of the spear with white knuckles. “Lucio-“

“You- you didn’t know-“

Asra and Lucio sank to the ground, the snowy woods fading to blackness as Julian’s voice boomed out, “Don’t pull it out! Leave it!”

Asra held the spear still as Nazali dashed up to them and went to the ground beside them, Julian not far behind. As the rest of the group ran up to them, Asra said in a shaking voice, “I thought he was Valdemar- I didn’t mean-“

“We know,” Nadia said soothingly. “We saw and heard everything, we just- we couldn’t get to you. Something was holding us back.”

“The wound is shallow,” Julian announced, as Nazali rummaged in their bag for bandages. “You can pull it out. But Lucio is done.”

“Nonsense,” Lucio wheezed, as Asra released the magic holding the spear in existence. Nazali immediately pressed a thick pad of gauze to the wound, and Julian helped them begin to bandage it. “I’ve had far worse than this and was able to keep fighting. Besides, you need me.”

“You’re not going to go on your own, are you?” Thomas asked, more than a little irritated. 

“Not on your life.”

“And we can’t spare anyone to take you back.” Thomas chewed on his lip thoughtfully. 

“If the man says he can fight, who are we to say he can’t?” Mazelinka asked. 

“As much as it pains me to agree, I find I do,” Nadia said. “But Lucio- your top priority is yourself. We can’t spare the attention to defend you. If we see you need help we’ll give it but we can’t be actively watching you.”

“You don’t have to watch me at all,” Lucio replied, arrogance in every syllable. “This is a flesh wound. I’ve had much worse than this.” He waved his alchemical arm for emphasis.

Once Asra and Thomas gave Lucio some magical healing, they helped him to his feet. He was a little unsteady on his feet, but quickly caught his balance and stood on his own. “Alright,” Thomas said, looking around the blackness around them. “When Julian and I were here before, breaking free of the nightmare summoned Valdemar.” 

“I somehow doubt it’ll be that easy this time,” Asra replied, shivering. “Valdemar is still hurt. They won’t want to confront us directly.”

“Perhaps Death can help us?” Nadia suggested. “After all, this is his realm.”

“It is my realm indeed. I’m afraid I cannot be of much help, however.”

“What was that?!” Lucio squeaked. 

Thomas managed to suppress a smile. “Hi, Death,” he called out into the darkness.”

“Hello, Thomas.” 

A purple snake slid on the ground through the darkness towards them, and coiled on itself to sit up and look at them. "F-Faust?" Asra stuttered, eyes wide.

The snake looked at Ara, tongue flicking. "Is that this creature's name? I knew you and Thomas, at least, was familiar with her, hence my borrowing of her form. Don't worry- she's still safe in the Magician's realm." Asra sighed in relief, and Death continued, "You're right. Valdemar doesn't want to come near you, let alone fight you right now. You're going to have to go looking for them."

The group exchanged a tired, heavy look. "And how are we supposed to do that?" Mazelinka challenged. "There's nothing here but darkness!"

"You're right. You're in my realm, which, because of this power struggle with Valdemar, is being forced into formlessness. That doesn't mean it's impossible to navigate, however. I cannot bring you to them; I'm too weak from their power drain. I can, however, give you a tool to help you find them."   
That got their attention. "What manner of tool?" Julian asked.

"I have a special bond with Valdemar. I can go to them and act as a beacon for you to find them. This means that you will be alone; if Valdemar realizes that you're free of their nightmares and sends them again, I will be unable to help you through it again. Although, one of you needn't worry about it. Because of the Fool's power, Thomas is impervious to hostile magic that's already been used against him once."  
The others looked at Thomas with something like wonder in their eyes. "Did you know that all this would happen when you resurrected me, Asra?" Thomas asked softly.

Asra was just as star-struck as the rest of them. "I had no idea. That's- that's incredible." And then he brightened. "That means that if Valdemar tries to lock us in nightmares again, you'll be able to free us again. Their tricks are _useless_ against you!"

"I'd rather not have to do that again," Thomas replied. "Especially since you nearly killed Lucio in your nightmare." Asra's face flared bright red, and he opened his mouth, but Thomas held up a hand to stop him. "I don't blame you, not at all. We could see everything, we just couldn't get to you. You tried to check your thrust when Lucio told you it was him."

"He's right," Lucio added, grinning. "If anything, I'm impressed. You were a coward when you were younger. You squared up to Valdemar like a true warrior, alone no less. That's impressive."

"Regardless," Nadia interjected, "we must do everything in our power to take Valdemar down before they have a chance to do that to us again. I nearly died as well."

"And Thomas and I were inches from killing each other," Julian added.

Everyone looked at him in confusion. "I thought the nightmare couldn't affect Thomas," Asra said.

"It didn't," Thomas said quickly, "but I still wasn't sure I was really facing Julian, and Julian was in his own nightmare."

"Those skeletons sure weren't playing around, either," Portia said, hand over the gash she'd sustained in their fight.

Asra saw it, and rushed over to her, summoning his magic to his hands. Portia protested that wasn't necessary, but he ignored her, healing over the cut quickly and completely. Despite her protestations, she relaxed as he worked, pain smoothing from her face. "Thanks," she said with a smile.

"Don't mention it." He looked back over the group. "Anyone else need healing?"

"I think the rest of us are good," Julian answered. "So, Death, er- how do we do this? Will we just know that you're guiding us to Valdemar, or-"

"It will be obvious where you need to go," Death replied. "If there are no further questions, I shall go to them now. Be careful, and good luck."

With that, the snake on the ground was gone in a flash of light. The group looked around, searching, and Lucio saw it first. "There, over there- that bright light. Is that Death?"

"I think so," Thomas said. "Let's go."


	17. Chapter 17

The group walked for what felt like forever, on high alert, tense and ready for anything that might attack them. But the journey was uneventful, and they relaxed, slowly. Thomas took deep, calming breaths; they didn't want to face Valdemar while they were panicked. That would only lead to Valdemar being able to get the upper hand, very quickly. 

As the light got brighter, tension started rising again. No one spoke; no one needed to. This was the last loose end to tie up before seeking out the Devil, and they would be victorious. There was no other option.

Soon, a figure came into sight on the horizon, standing under Death's light, waiting for them. Valdemar looked tired, worn out, but _angry_. "I knew he was leading you to me," Valdemar snarled. "You're going to regret chasing me down like this!"

Without waiting for a response, Valdemar's form began to shift and twist again, red mist rising from the ground, obscuring their vision. Thomas heard swords being drawn, magic being raised. Then, the mist cleared, and Valdemar's monstrous form loomed over them, menacing and vicious. Thomas could see the deep gouges in their body from their last encounter with them, and he wondered if he would actually get the chance to unbind them; it seemed that the goal, once Thomas and his group had been captured, was to kill Valdemar. "Disable them," Thomas called out, "but don't hurt them anymore than you need to! We will _not_ be like them!"

A hideous noise rang out in the darkness, like a laugh that was a hiss and a screech at the same time. Thomas clapped his hands over his ears until it passed, dodging away from Valdemar's strike at him. The others fanned out and surrounded Valdemar, who screamed again, but this time it sounded frustrated, almost fearful. Thomas summoned his magic to his hands, moving carefully, watching and waiting. Valdemar seemed singularly focused on him, seemed to believe he was the only threat. Thomas batted away Valdemar's attempt to grab him by the wrist, twisted away when a gooey appendage snapped out for his waist. 

Before long, Valdemar shrieked in pain as Lucio's sword embedded firmly in their back, and twisted. Now that they had one weapon embedded in their monstrous body, another- Nadia's- followed, then Asra's. "Portia!" Asra called, twisting away from Valdemar's strike. "Mazelinka! Back up Thomas! Do it now!"

Thomas didn't hesitate, trusting that Asra knew what he was doing, what he was saying. He closed his eyes, searching for the Devil's chains with his magic, and reached out and grasped one. Valdemar wrapped around his wrist and pulled him in; he panicked, yanking away, not wanting to be dragged in like he had before.

But then he felt Portia and Mazelinka's magic flood through him. Once more, Valdemar screamed, the goo around Thomas's wrist withering away from him. Thomas took a deep, shuddering breath, and snatched the chains again, forcing his magic through them. One link shattered, then two, and the links began shattering one after another, faster and faster. "_No!_" Valdemar screeched, a cry that dissolved into pain as light and magic flared outward, forcing them all backwards. Thomas threw his hands up and tumbled backwards, Valdemar's scream reverberating in his skull.

Then it all faded, and he looked up. Valdemar laid in the middle of the group, moaning softly in pain, several deep gashes in their torso and hands and face. Asra got to his knees and crawled over to them. They didn't resist him as he turned them onto their stomach and twisted their hands behind their back and bound their wrists with a cord of magic. "Julian? Nazali?" he said softly. "Either of you want to make sure they're not going to die on us?"

"Not particularly," Nazali muttered back, both both of them moved to examine them.

Nadia and Portia went to Thomas as he sat up, rubbing his numb hands. “You did it!” Portia exclaimed softly, kneeling by him and wrapping her arms around him. 

“_We _did it,” Thomas corrected. “That was- that was a lot easier than I expected it to be.”

“Yes, well, they were already badly hurt,” Lucio said, walking up to them. “Did you see me? I was brilliant! I told you that bringing me along would be-“

“Uh, guys?” came Asra’s nervous voice. “Something’s happening...”

Thomas could feel it too, a seismic shift in the air around them. Death, still borrowing Faust’s shape, flashed into existence. “The Devil is moving,” he announced.

Valdemar laughed, spitting blood. “We tried to tell you,” they sneered. “We tried to _warn _you. The Devil’s deals with us bound him to us, as well. We were using that to keep him out of Vesuvia. Whatever happens to the city now is_ your _fault!”

“We’re just going to have to take him out before he can do any damage,” Julian said, determination in every word. “Someone needs to take Valdemar back to the Hierophant’s realm.”

Every set of eyes fixed on Lucio. Lucio stared back, finally sighing. “I suppose I shouldn’t complain too much that you finally trust me,” he said. “I’ll take them back. Be careful, and sock him one for me, eh? The whole reason I joined you was to have a shot at him. I’ll be so very pissed if you lose.”

“We won’t lose,” Asra said, eyes flashing with anger and determination. “We will end this, now. Death, can you bring us to him?”

“Yes. Hold onto each other; the Devil is in between now, heading for Vesuvia. I must warn you; now that the courtiers aren’t holding him back, his power is immense. But if anyone can rein him in, you can. Ready?”

The group stood in a circle, holding each other's hands. "We're ready," Thomas said in a firm voice, not feeling half as confident as he sounded. Julian cast a worried glance at him, sensing his fear, but said nothing as Death's magic wrapped around them, and the space around them distorted. The darkness brightened into light and color, swirling around them, pulsating and writhing. Streaks of color wrapped around them and then dissipated into the aether; Thomas looked around himself at his friends. All of their faces were distorted, their outlines fuzzy. "The Devil is here?" Portia asked, fear lacing every word. 

"That's what Death said," Asra answered, looking around, shoulders tense. 

"How are we supposed to fight anything in here?" Julian asked.

"Carefully," was Mazelinka's reply. "Anyone have a lock on that damn goat?"

Thomas cautiously reached out with his magic, extending his senses out in a spiral around them. His heart skipped a beat as he sensed the Devil. "He's here, and he's getting closer, _fast_," Thomas said in a low, urgent voice. "I can't pinpoint- wait- _there_."

Thomas pointed, and the others fanned out on either side of him, forming a line in the chaos. No one drew their weapons; physical weapons would be useless against a being like the Devil. They had to hope their combined magic would be enough. "Remember," Asra called over the roar of the wind. "We can't kill him. We can only bind him. Follow Thomas's lead."

"What makes you think I know what to do?" Thomas challenged, fighting down panic and adrenaline.

"Improvise!" came Nadia's voice, and Thomas bit back a smile. Improvise, huh?

In what felt like mere seconds, the swirling, undulating colors parted and the Devil appeared before them. He was gigantic, staring down his nose at them in disdain. "I grow tired of your interference," he hissed. "This ends now!"

"Yes, it does!" Thomas retorted, already focusing his magic. The Devil was focusing his magic as well, but Thomas couldn't spare him the attention. He searched for the Devil's chains, the black, burning chains he knew were there, and reached out to grab them. The chains flared white hot and Thomas snatched his hand back, much to the Devil's amusement.

In the next second, those chains lashed out at them, wrapping around their legs and winding their way up their bodies. Searing pain lanced through Thomas everywhere the chains touched him, binding tight around him. A cacophony of thoughts pierced through his mind, very few of them his own; it took him a few minutes to realize it, but the thoughts were those of his friends around them. Asra's panic to get to him; Mazelinka's struggle to think of anything she could do against this; Julian's protestation that he had a deal with- "Hang on just a moment!" Thomas snarled through the pain. "You have a deal with Julian! You can't hurt me!"

"You're joking, right? Am I seeing things, or is Julian _right there_ trying to fight me by your side?"

"You've got to be kidding me!" Julian hollered. "You mean to tell me he hasn't been protected from you at all?! Why am I still in this form, then?!"

The chains tightened around them; one by one, the members of the group succumbed to the pain and screamed, struggling to free themselves. "I'm tired of this game," the Devil snarled. “So determined to defeat me that you’ve completely ignored how your bonds with each other drag you down.”

“You’re wrong,” Asra snarled. “Our bonds have saved us, more than once!”

“Stupid fool, your bonds with Thomas nearly condemned you to an eternity bound to me!”

“But it didn’t!” Nadia called out. “We saved Asra, he saved Thomas, and we’re going to stop you! You can inflict our pain and fear on each other all you want; it’s just making us more determined to take you down!”

The Devil snarled in response, holding out a claw and tightening it into a fist. The chains around them tightened, and Thomas bit back a scream even as the others cried out in pain. He twisted his wrist to grab a hold of the chains. He gritted his teeth against the pain as the chains burned into his palm and fingers, focusing his magic and visualizing the chains breaking. They shuddered, but held fast. Thomas yelled in frustration, shoving his magic through the chains. 

The pain instantly eased, and the chains brightened from black to gold, releasing their strangling grip on them. The Devil's eyes widened as the others shifted to grab a hold of the chains as well, following Thomas's lead and focusing all of their power into them. From the little bit of power Julian had to Asra's powerful magic, magic flowed into the chains, turning them against the Devil. "How are you doing this?" the Devil growled. 

Thomas felt the metal in his hands begin to heat up, saw it begin to darken, and scowled, pushing his magic as far as it could go. The darkness fled again, replaced by bright, golden light. The Devil's darkness touched the light and fled, snapping back around the Devil. Seeming to understand now the danger he was really in, Thomas felt the Devil's magic clawing at their surroundings, struggling to find a way out. "Follow my lead!" Thomas screamed, directing the power flowing through him to surround the Devil. The chains strained against his hands, and he let go as they strained towards the Devil. The others followed suit, and the golden chains flung at the Devil, wrapping tightly around him over and over again. The Devil screamed, clawing at the chains. "This isn't over!" he roared. "I am immortal! I am omnipotent! This is _my world_ and you _can't have-_"

They watched as the chains flared once more, blinding them. Thomas blinked stars out of his eyes, and in the same instant, a shattering noise came from just to his left. He looked over at Julian to see him, human once more, black feathers floating down around him. Julian looked at his hands and gasped out a laugh, reaching up to touch his face.

"We have to get out of here," Asra said urgently. "We don't know how long we can safely stay here. Being in this space before the merge was dangerous; I don't want to think about how dangerous it is now."

"But _how_ do we get out?" Portia asked. "The Devil was trying, and he couldn't! If the Devil couldn't get out-"

"I'm going to try something," Asra said, closing his eyes. Thomas felt Asra's magic, searching, as he murmured something under his breath.

Moments later, a portal opened up behind them, and they turned to see the Magician and the Hierophant on the other side, hands outstretched. "Come! Hurry! We can't hold this portal open for very long!" the Magician urged.

Thomas gestured for the others to go; Julian held back with him as the others rushed to the portal and tumbled through it. Asra was last, and turned back to them before he stepped through. "Come on!" he cried. "It's getting weaker!"

Thomas and Julian bolted for the portal, and the three of them tumbled through it into the Hierphant's manse, in a gasping, trembling pile. "You did it!" the Magician crooned. "You really did it!"

They untangled themselves from each other, groaning as they moved. Thomas could still feel the burning chains on his skin, and he sat up, hugging himself. He felt Julian's arms wrap around his shoulders, and he leaned against him, closing his eyes. "What- what now?" Julian asked.

"Now," the Hierophant said, "you rest. You've earned it. Thank you, all of you. The damage can never be undone, but now we needn't live in fear of the Devil's boredom."

Thomas thought about that for a moment before anger flashed through him. "This all happened because he was _bored_," Thomas hissed, finally getting angry. Now that the crisis was past, and he could let himself feel again... "He put us through all of that because he was _bored!_ What kind of _monster_-"

Julian's hand on his shoulder silenced him. "It's over now," he said softly, moving to embrace him. Thomas leaned into his arms, tilting his head up to kiss him gently. "We did it," Julian said when they parted, eyes shining. "It's over."

"It's over..." Thomas sighed, and leaned heavily against Julian, listening to his heart beat.

* * *

Two hours later saw the entire group, everyone they had rescued, sitting on the roof of the Hierophant's manse, watching the colorful sunset, talking amongst themselves. The conversation died down, and they sat in companionable silence before Asra turned to Nadia and her family. "What are you going to do now?" he asked.

Nadia picked at her dress. "I will return to Vesuvia," she said firmly. "The city needs a leader, now more than ever. We'd been trapped and isolated since the worlds merged, and the people are still frightened."

"We need to find a way back to Prakra," Nasrin said, glancing at Nadia and the rest of her children. "We've been trapped in Vesuvia for so long... we can only hope that we don't have difficulty taking power back from our consul. I don't foresee an issue, but one never knows in this new world."

"It will help that most of us are returning," Nasmira added. 

"I plan to stay in Vesuvia," Natiqa said, hugging her knees. "I wanted to establish an embassy before all of this happened, and now that there's nothing standing between us and freedom, I'd like to see that plan through. After all, life carries on, as well as it can. Vesuvia and Prakra still needs a strong alliance."

Nadia reached over and put a hand over Natiqa's. "That sounds excellent. You're welcome in Vesuvia- all of you are. If you must, you can return to us, if conditions in Prakra aren't... condusive to reclaiming power."

Lucio listened to all of this, his expression sad. "What about _me?_" he asked, looking away. "I- I don't want to go back to living by my sword. That cost me my arm. And you all but said I wasn't welcome in Vesuvia-"

Nadia's expression softened. "You've proven yourself," she said. "I cannot say I trust you entirely, but if you wish, you may remain as... as an advisor." Her eyes flashed in sternness. "But understand that I needn't take the advice you give. _I_ am in control, understand? You are remaining here in return for your service to me. That means that we will not be letting Vesuvia fall into ruin as it did under your rule. If you do not like how I am doing things, you will be free to leave. Do we have an understanding?"

Lucio nodded, looking away. "Look, I fought my way to that position and maybe I wasn't sure what I was doing," he said, drawing out 'maybe' longer than it needed to be. "I wanted to fix Vesuvia with you together. I- I did care. I _did_, but I didn't know how exactly to show that. I'm willing to see what you make of the city, with our roles reversed."

Nadia nodded, seemingly satisfied with Lucio's answer. "What about you?" she asked Portia and Mazelinka. "Do you wish to stay?"

Portia exchanged a look with Mazelinka and looked back at Nadia. "Of course, Milady. When I fled with Mazelinka I was so scared, and I could hear the Star beckoning me. I went without really understanding what I was doing. I never meant to abandon you."

"I didn't take it as abandonment," Nadia said soothingly. "We're lucky you left when you did. You wouldn't have been able to assist in freeing us if you hadn't. You will _always_ have a place with us." She looked up at the rest of them. "All of you do." Then she peered at Asra. "You asked the question, yet didn't answer it yourself. What will you do now?"

Asra sighed, turning his gaze to the starry sky. "I think I'm going to go back to the Magician's realm for a while," he said softly. "Just until I've recovered from all of this. I need some time to be alone."

Aisha and Salim looked at each other, and then him in concern. "Can we come with you?" Salim asked.

Asra gave them a tired smile. "I'll be fine on my own, and I'm coming back. I promise. I just... need to find myself again. I changed, and I don't like _how _I changed. I don't want you to get to know me like this."

Aisha sighed, and reached over to take his hand. He laced their fingers together, and she gave it a squeeze. "We will eagerly await your return, then," she said softly. 

Nadia cleared her throat. "I would appreciate your counsel, as well. You're both powerful magicians, and heavens knows we will need powerful magicians to keep control of our environment. You too, Asra. You will have a home with us when you're ready to return to us." He nodded his acknowledgment, turning his gaze back up to the starry sky above.

"That just leaves Thomas and Julian," Namar said, looking over at them. "Well? What do you plan to do?"

The two of them looked at each other. "I was apprenticed to Julian during the plague," Thomas said. "I was hoping to resume that."

Julian closed his eyes, touching Thomas's forehead to his. "What about your memory?" he asked. "Won't you have to start from the beginning? And weren't you apprenticed to Asra before all of this started?"

Asra scoffed, "I should be apprenticed to _him_ at this point. He's far surpassed me."

Thomas chuckled a bit, his face flushing with Asra's praise. "I _will_ have to start from the beginning," he admitted, "but it would be worth it. And I could teach you healing magic, too."

"I... I think I'd like that." 

Thomas and Julian looked at each other for several moments longer, lost in each others' eyes, before Thomas leaned in and kissed him gently. Julian kissed back, arms going around Thomas's shoulders. Nadia cleared her throat, and they separated, grinning despite flaming blushes. Nothing more was said as they all watched the sun rise on the new day.


End file.
